Latest CD releases reviewed

KARRIN ALLYSON
Wild for You Concord Jazz 
****

Different in terms of repertoire to singers Kurt Elling and René Marie, Allyson is similarly capable of stamping her creativity on her material. And since it's songs by such disparate talents as Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Carole King, James Taylor, Elton John and Cat Stevens, this speaks volumes for her strength of personality. Nicely backed by a sextet in which pianist/arranger Gil Goldstein is the best known, as a jazz singer she's the real deal. Lyrics matter; they're not an excuse for an ego trip. A couple of songs are undistinguished, apart from her treatment of them, but there are some prime pieces by Mitchell, Simon and King, and she draws out the sensual innocence of Ewan MacColl's The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face impeccably.

Ray Comiskey

JON BALKE
Diverted Travels ECM
****

Pianist, composer and orchestrator Balke's third album by his Magnetic North Orchestra offers a radically changed lineup, but retains the gifted Per Jørgensen (trumpet/vocals), with Fredrik Lundin (reeds), two violins, bass violin and two percussionists. A unique ensemble, its rigorously wrought performances constantly confound expectations of the familiar and blur the distinction between the written and the improvised - no mean feat considering the improvisational freedom available within them. Largely free of self-indulgence, the music hovers somewhere on the boundaries of contemporary classical and jazz, with hints of folk, evoking at its most typical the austere landscapes of the cold North. Not, certainly, to everyone's taste, but oddly arresting and delicate.

Ray Comiskey

MICHAEL GARRICK
Troppo Universal
***

More of Universal's Impressed reissue series offer a rare example of the fine group pianist/composer Garrick led in the 1970s, featuring Norma Winstone (voice), Don Rendell and/or Art Themen (reeds), Henry Lowther (trumpet, flugelhorn and violin), and an arresting rhythm section completed by Dave Green (bass) and Trevor Tomkins (drums). Using odd metres, combining structure with free collective improvisation, as well as featured soloists, it epitomises the probing, adventurous cast of British jazz of its time. Arguably, there are more fully realised - and quite different - albums under Garrick's name from the period, but there's no doubt about the talent involved. Full of surprises, this must have been some band to encounter live.

Ray Comiskey