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Arthurs/McKinnon/Sorbara

Squash Recipe

Babel BDV2560

UK trumpeter Tom Arthurs is probably best known in this country for his F-ire Collective quintet Centripede, but he studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada in 2001, and that's where he met pianist Bruce McKinnon and Toronto-based drummer Joe Sorbara.

Together they make gutsy, punchy music that spins free-wheeling improvisations from relatively simple themes and motifs, Arthurs's strident trumpet and mellower flugelhorn spearheading a trio that at certain times sounds like a free-improvisation group, at others like a state-of-the-art Dave Douglas-type band.

The material, by all three bandmembers (plus a short burst of Brahms) ranges from nervy, spiky pieces to more languorous fare (acknowledged influences include both Erik Satie and the Marx Brothers), but what immediately impresses is the sureness and controlled power of Arthurs's playing throughout; whether he's rattling through a free-ish solo or punching out a quirky melody, his is an arresting sound, straightforwardly fleet where required, but also capable of extraordinary textural and dynamic variation. A delightful album that demands, and richly rewards, sustained attention.