The latest releases reviewed

CARLA BLEY
The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu WATT *****

From the six-part Banana Quintet (don't ask) to the three superb additional tracks that round off the CD, this album is drenched in composer/pianist Bley's wryly humorous lyricism. Thanks in part to her writing, particularly her knack of laying down changes that prod the best from her colleagues, it's also very beautiful. Feasting off these compositions is a same-sex musical marriage made in heaven. Saxophonist Andy Sheppard (who, with Bley, bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Billy Drummond, make up The Lost Chords) has a musical alter ego in the trumpet and flugelhorn of Paolo Fresu, a guest who sounds like part of the family. Fresu and Sheppard make a formidable front line, Bley has developed an unfussy, direct, conversational piano style, Drummond is perfect for the band and, amid a welter of lovely solos, Swallow contributes his own special take on beauty. www.musicconnection.org.uk

JACOB YOUNG
Sideways  ECM  ****

In their modesty and charm, it's easy to overlook not only how carefully wrought these performances are, but also the character and restraint of guitarist Young's melodic writing and playing. He uses the same quintet he debuted on ECM's Evening Falls (2004), now with an even surer grasp of what they can bring to the music: trumpeter Mathias Eick's capacity for beautifully matching his solos to the emotional climate of each piece; Vidar Johansen's ideal tonal blend of tenor and bass clarinet; and the mobile, sensitive responses of bassist Mats Eilertsen and, above all, drummer Jon Christensen, a master colourist.

Add Young's graceful, songlike guitar, and the results are difficult to resist; contemporary in their focused looseness, poised and understated in a very Norwegian way, yet with faint echoes, at times, of the folk-like Americana of someone such as Stephen Foster. www.musicconnection.org.uk

JAZZ AT THE PAWNSHOP
Jazz at the Pawnshop Proprius ****

With three CDs, including 20 minutes of previously unreleased music, and a DVD of interviews (with English subtitles) of the four surviving players, this 30th anniversary set is the definitive (and limited) edition of one of the most famous of all live jazz recordings. When Arne Domnérus (alto/ clarinet), Lars Erstrand (vibes), Bengt Hallberg (piano), Georg Riedel (bass) and the late Egil Johansen (drums) made it over two successive nights in Stampen, the tiny Stockholm club, they had no idea that this casual meeting would click so well, or that the recording would become a byword for sound quality and immediacy. For both these reasons it has sold an astonishing 500,000 copies in Sweden alone over the years and continues to sell steadily worldwide; deservedly so, because all involved were on form and enjoyed the quick-witted, creative interchange between kindred spirits. www.swedishmusic shop.com