Certainly A Beautiful Blue Moment begins in blistering fashion on 'Old Voyage' trumpeter Tim Hagans like a bull at a gate. Very brightly mastered things calm down on the title track and even in this new solemnitude Hagans proves no shrinking violet.

A quartet record led by distinguished pianist Carsten Dahl I didn't really begin to enjoy the album until the driving third track when Jukkis Uotila on drums starts to seize control enough to grip the imagination. Recorded last year it's a maiden voyage for the quartet and I think that newness together shows not that anyone has anything to prove as an instrumentalist.

While the album is good at a puppyish ferocity it's not so convincing at moving beyond sheer energy to mean something more than that. I'd prefer Hagans in a different more maverick setting for example with Jon Irabagon. 'Monk - keys' is the best track when Dahl seems to really be enjoying himself. Bassist Johnny Åman is a swinging presence when he needs to be. As for Dahl hearing him in the context of last year's exquisite Our Songs is much more preferable. SG