Already following up on his Sending My Love debut, Mancunian trumpeter Matthew Halsall teams up with labelmate Nat Birchall, pianist Adam Fairhall, bass player Gavin Barras and alternating drummers Gaz Hughes and Marek Dorcik for an album of melodic and often meditative jazz. As with its predecessor there's a pleasantly trad feel to all this, taking on the feel and character of a fairly conventional club combo, albeit with an uncommonly heightened sense of composerly intuition. Halsall sounds especially strong during the record's quieter passages, slowing the pulse to stealthy, dulcet levels on 'I've Been Here Before', leaving room for restrained, melancholy intonations counterbalanced by the prickly harpof Rachael Gladwin.The Compositions by Matthew Halsall - http://www.gondwanarecords.com/
