First time I heard Paul Booth was hearing him with the Steve Winwood band at the Cork jazz festival. He stood out a mile among that stellar band. A few years later in Sligo he was playing in casual circumstances at a jam session and blew everyone off the bandstand without even trying! He spends a lot of his time playing with big name rock bands like Winwood and The Eagles no less and doing sessions. But increasingly in recent years his records especially Travel Sketches under his own name have brought him on to more jazz fans' radar a little like the way Michael Brecker emerged from playing sessions to recording his own records. Here the recipe is driving straightahead contemporary sounds that draw on jazz-rock and funk the 44 in the title marking his 44th birthday playing in the company of a double quartet. Trumpeter Alexandra Ridout is superb in the front line with him while the drum team of Shane Forbes and Andrew Bain keep the groove lively. Booth's good at capturing a pastoral sense on a track such as 'Four Candles' and the tunes easily pivot from the balladic to a more driving and always involving improvisational arc. Beautifully recorded, the level of musicianship here is sky high and it's one of the best UK releases I've had the pleasure to listen to this year. If Booth is new to you discover his accessible and likeable approach today. He's in his prime SG