Not at all a thundering chops fest on steroids Purple / Black Vol. 1 is thoughtful, highly intelligent sounding developmental small group play from a quartet of significant players. Much preferable to Preston/Glasgow/Lowe's Something About Rainbows pianist/keyboardist Kit Downes sounds different here, far more pared back than usual although he occasionally slips off the leash. David Preston - also known for his work with singer Ian Shaw in one of Shaw's best periods - renders 'Susie Q's' warm and Frisellian as is 'Salem Ascending' with its lovely woozy harmonising interplay between Preston and Downes. But there is also a lot of prog verging on mondo Holdsworth or areas too that border on jazztronica ('Cassino Dream') where Preston breaks through deliciously with some choice licks. The drummer here is Seb Rochford who with Downes has delivered one of this year's best albums A Personal Diary. The two contribute a lot in a group size here twice as large and where the writing is not Rochford's but Preston's - and valiantly questing it is too. Six-string bass guitarist Kevin Glasgow is a formidable player and completes the quartet. This setting isn't about showing off: tunes are quite oblique and intriguing rather than intense and fraught. You might not get all that this album has to offer on a first listen but patience is certainly rewarded. The best groove from Rochford is on 'Cassino Dream' but groove is only part of the panoply of approaches this inventive album dips in and out of. David Preston, photo: Whirlwind