JAZZ

Colin Steele Quartet: Diving for Pearls Marina Records

Colin Steele, a trumpeter renowned for distinctively Scots-accented compositions, turns his attention to the engagingly melodic compositions of David Scott of the Pearlfishers. He’s accompanied by established playing partner and arranger, pianist Dave Milligan, with superb interaction from bassist Calum Gourlay and drummer Alyn Cosker. From the opening Bluebells, they create a polished and warm-hearted piece of work, Steele playing mute trumpet throughout, articulating plaintively or with terse urgency over Milligan’s mercurial piano work. Vampires of

Camelon waltzes smoothly before hotting up for a joyous crescendo, while the initially unhurried piano phrases of Ice Race similarly intensify over Cosker’s busy drumming.

There are distinct echoes of Bacharach, and tracks like the laconic melancholy of You’ll Never Steal My

Spirit, sound particularly cinematic, while Umbrellas of Shibuya opens with Debussy-esque delicacy but builds beguiling intricacies, before things draw to a graceful close with the brief shimmer of Swan Dreams .■