The latest releases reviewed

JOHN SURMAN The Spaces in Between ECM ****

If this album is any indication, John Surman is one of the best string writers on the current jazz scene. Perhaps it's partly because he's so rooted. On this album, the folk-like Now See!, the restrained, rustic lushness of Wayfarers All, the lovely Leaving the Harrow, and the not-quite-bleak melancholy of Winter Wish are - critical cliche or not - ineffably English. But Surman handles with equal authority the exotic, Middle Eastern moodiness of Mimosa, while the title track is a remarkable solo violin piece superbly played by Rita Manning, leader of the Trans4formation String Quartet, with which the multi-reedman works so well here. It's also a measure of Surman's writing and playing, and of the quartet's work - both elements buttressed by the bass of Chris Laurence - that the results have such beauty and idiomatic unity. www.musicconnection.org.uk RAY COMISKEY

GILAD BARKAN Live Sessions New Step Music ***

London-born, Israel-raised and Boston-based, pianist Gilad Barkan leads a trio with Dan Greenspan (bass) and Harvey Wirht (drums) on the first of two neatly ordered CDs, with flautist Amir Milstein added and bassist John Lockwood in for Greenspan on the second. Barkan, who wrote almost all the music, allows his well-structured solos to unfurl with a kind of calm, unhurried grace, even at faster tempos; they're logical, considered and attractive, and his compositions offer plenty of harmonic sustenance. The trio is essentially piano-led, but, with a slightly more exotic cast to the second CD, Wirht, who has performed with the Either/Orchestra, is more upfront in the interplay, while Milstein proves a capable partner for Barkan, if not quite as good a soloist. There's nothing here to put rancours in the vessel of anyone's peace (apologies to Macbeth), but it is well-crafted. www.newstepmusic.com RAY COMISKEY

George Bernard Shaw called dancing "the perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire"; Reverse Trust's retro, idiomatically on-the-button recreation of jazz-rock/fusion is the perfect accompaniment to that activity. Niall O'Neill composed all the music (one piece co-written with Mark Cahill), produced and plays bass, guitar, piano and synths. He assembled two fine groups: one for fusion, with Mike Nielsen (guitar) and Brendan Doyle (soprano/ tenor); and one for jazz-rock, with Derek O'Connor (tenor/piano) and Dick Farrelly (guitar). Tom McDermott laid down the drum tracks. The groove is visceral, the tunes simple and catchy, and Nielsen, Doyle, O'Connor and Farrelly are the kind of quality soloists the music needs. Personally, a social disease would be preferable to a large dose of jazz-rock/fusion, but this is emphatically a superior example of the genre. www.reversetrust.com RAY COMISKEY