This week's jazz releases reviewed

JACÁM MANRICKS

Labyrinth

Manricks Music*****

Balancing cerebral rigour with a kind of grave warmth, Australian composer/multi-reedman Manricks forges this singularly successful marriage of classical and jazz ideas. With an exceptional band – Ben Monder (guitars), Jacob Sacks (piano), Thomas Morgan (bass) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums) – plus, on two tracks, a chamber orchestra, he references Debussy, Schoenberg and Ravel, as well as Gil Evans, creating distinctively personal compositions whose lucid development, despite their complexity, makes them remarkably accessible. He's also a very individual, cliche-free soloist, whose pure alto and soprano saxophone tone means his improvisations must rest on their linear qualities to succeed. The long-lined compositions, too, particularly Micro-Gravityand March & Combatwith the orchestra, are all set out with a compelling assurance that marks Manricks, first and foremost, as a formidable jazz talent. www.jacobmanricks.com RAY COMISKEY

DYLAN RYNHART: FUZZY LOGIC ENSEMBLE

Mouthpiece

Diatribe****

On this second CD by composer/ keyboardist Dylan Rynhart's Fuzzy Logic, his writing, though clearly by the same hand (six pieces are his, two by ensemble members Brian Wynne and Nick Roth), is an obvious advance on his fine debut. The voicings are richer and more varied and there's a particularly deft sense of proportion to the development of texture and counterpoint. Replacing cello, French horn and clarinet with tenor, soprano and electric bass has enhanced the ensemble, while solo options are increased not only by Joe O'Callaghan (guitar) and the brilliant Tom Arthurs (guesting on trumpet and flugelhorn), but also by Wynne (tenor) and Cathal Roche (soprano). And the complex ensembles, thanks to conductor Florian Ross, are among the best executed by an Irish jazz ensemble. Standout examples of a uniquely conceived project include Flip Shuffle, Dusty Timeand The Difference between Light and Hard.www.diatribe.ie RAY COMISKEY

John Proulx

Baker’s Dozen: Remembering Chet Baker

MaxJazz***

Proulx is an excellent mainstream/ bop pianist who also sings. His voice resembles Chet Baker's, though with somewhat more to it than the late trumpeter's limited resources, hence this tribute, using material associated with Baker and Gerry Mulligan. If Proulx's singing, simple, direct and unadorned, remains no more than pleasant, his swinging, inventive and sophisticated piano, crisply backed by Chuck Berghofer (bass) and Joe LaBarbera (drums), is of a different order. And he has the benefit of a real find in the emerging Dominick Farinacci (trumpet/flugelhorn), whose superb solos and obbligati on seven tracks hint at the influence of Clifford Brown and Clark Terry, with the technique and lyric imagination to go with it. On a good mainstream album, he contributes particularly effectively to Let's Get Lost, Reunion/There Will Never Be Another You, I Fall In Love Too Easilyand Line For Lyons. www.maxjazz.com RAY COMISKEY