Not an album that thinks it is the big ''I am''. And that is massively in its favour. Neither is it an out and out chops fest. In fact tumbling blizzards of notes refuse to litter the place. Tidy, huh? But not music by a wallflower for wallflowers either. And yet it is highly introspective, a characteristic that is sometimes unfairly maligned given its innate thoughtfulness that some seem to fear as they hide behind preposterous bravado and give in to peer pressure instead to strut about.
What the record (listen to the title track for instance first up) from relative newcomer saxophonist Jasmine Myra, an alumna of Leeds Conservatoire, is about - means a considerable refreshment. And yet not everything works beyond the welcome quenching. There are three or four good tracks gathered around the first half of the album. And there's a no-nonsense side to her compositions. The way the music is arranged, in a dreamy spiritual jazz space, means that there is a lot of air and serenity as an abiding factor but it isn't generic. Strong on the compositional pervasively, mindless gone-rogue stunt solo posturing is banished.
The melancholia in the chamber arrangements whether conjuring a sense of bereftness following a loved-one's passing or not is resolutely human. Horizons has guitarist Ben Haskins, drummer George Hall, pianist Jasper Green and harpist Alice Roberts on the record among the personnel. It is a solid debut that sets its own limits and doesn't lose a grip of itself. This plucky new ''voice'' of the north of England lingers longer than one far more strident and full-of-itself can only dream of.
Jasmine Myra photo: Emily Dennison
Tags: