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Finn Peters

Su-Ling

Babel BDV 2664

Those who've encountered Finn Peters chiefly as a flautist will be surprised to find that on this, his debut album, he plays round-toned, assured, middleweight saxophone for most of time, reserving his flute for selections such as the intriguing title-track and 'Nelson's Blood', for which textural and tonal contrast are at least as important as straightforward propulsiveness.

All the compositions, except Nick Ramm's 'Ballad Boy', are Peters's, and they draw on a variety of rhythms, from broadly African ('Al Dar Gazelli'), through funky New Orleans-type pieces ornamented by handclaps ('Red Fish') to brisk, peppy selections ('Gato'); the band, though (guitarist Dave Okumu, bassist Tom Herbert, drummer Tom Skinner alongside Peters and Ramm), sounds entirely at home in all contexts, and it is a sign of Peters's (entirely justified) confidence in the variety and strength of his own compositional ability that the album does not contain the apparently obligatory 'radio-play' track featuring a stellar guest singer, and finishes with a track ('Machine Gun') as adventurous as any other on what is a skilfully varied yet distinctive-sounding set, focusing on the finely honed rapport between Peters and Ramm, but featuring a versatile, sparky band whose enjoyment of Peters's music is palpable and infectious.