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Curious Paradise

Now

33JAZZ164

Curious Paradise is a punchy yet pleasingly airy quintet led by guitarist/composer Pete Oxley and completed by reedsman Julian Nicholas, keyboards player Phil Peskett, bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer Russ Morgan.

The aforementioned airiness has led to Pat Metheny comparisons, and there is a slight resemblance between Oxley's breezier tunes and some of the American's work, but compositions such as 'Depth of Field', with its intriguing keyboard textures, and 'The Tribute' with its slow, squeezed sound, are distinctively Oxley.

In Nicholas, the guitarist/leader has found an excellent foil; the saxophonist's soprano tone, in particular, is suitably pure and agile, and overall, Now! is a thoroughly entertaining, at times joyously garrulous, fleet yet thoughtfully constructed album that should serve as a useful calling card for their forthcoming autumn UK tour.