Jazz reviews of the week...

Gary Peacock/Marc Copland

Insight

Pirouet ****

These 2005 and 2007 duo sessions catch bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marc Copland on a mutual high. Peacock, always open and inventive, has a richly suggestive setting in Copland's uniquely questing harmonic sense, which allows the pianist to create solos and accompaniments where surprise and logic happily co-exist. Their shared inspiration is evident. The subtle dialoguing is best appreciated on the familiar: All Blues, Blue in Greenand Copland's wonderful blues, River's Run, are superbly adventurous performances of jointly revisited material. And while Cavatina, In Your Own Sweet Way(with a hint of Bill Evans) and the wittily mocked Sweet and Lovely hew somewhat closer to home base, they are equally engaging. Six spontaneously devised pieces, of which perhaps Benedictionis the finest, add spice to an often spellbinding CD. www.pirouetrecords.com

Jim Hart

Words & Music

Woodville ***

Leading Ivo Neame (piano), Mick Coady (bass) and Tristan Maillot (drums), multi-instrumentalist Jim Hart plays vibes on this dip into the Great American Songbook. Both Hart, who uses a four-mallet technique without evoking Gary Burton (no mean feat) and Neame are more than capable soloists, particularly the consistently vivid Neame. Much of the repertoire is well-trodden ground, but there are some surprises. Shulie-a-Bopis a tricky piece by George Treadwell and Sarah Vaughan, and Piano Na Mangueirais a little-known Jobim bossa, while Hart contributes two good originals, It Took Me by Surpriseand The Cat in the Hat.

An occasional, slight untidiness suggests too much was packed into one day's recording, but mainstream fans should find plenty to enjoy. Hart and Coady are currently on an extensive tour here with Louis Stewart. www.propernote.co.uk

Anouar Brahem

The Astounding Eyes of Rita

ECM****

On this album, Anouar Brahem, the great Tunisian oud player, composer and improviser, draws on a fertile source of distinctive melodic inspiration in his heritage in Middle Eastern classical and folk music. And, with his new quartet with Klaus Gesing (bass clarinet), Björn Meyer (electric bass) and Khaled Yassine (darbuka/bendir), he achieves a blend of sonorities, melodies and rhythms that reflect this culture, while its interactive feel is unmistakeably jazz. In a band of kindred spirits (Gesing,so great on Norma Winstone's Distances, is a real soulmate) and delicately nuanced dynamics, the quartet capture movingly the sad acceptance of The Lover of Beirut, groove with euphoric, understated power on the folklike Stopoverat Djiboutiand Galilee Mon Amour, and give celebratory voice to the title track. Throughout, the level of focused invention never flags. www.naxosdirect.ie