If you are into novelty acts, gimmickry or the latest phenom - look away now. Cleveland, Ohio, born trombonist Jiggs Whigham probably was never ever fashionable and certainly this identifiable middle of the road modern mainstream sound isn't going to be on Gilles Peterson's radar any time soon. But with an alert and highly relatable Danish guitarist and bassist in tow their kind of jazz prowess collectively is no mean feat. Now in his late seventies Whigham, who used to conduct the BBC Big Band and whose playing credits over a long career range from Stan Kenton to Bud Shank and Peter Herbolzheimer, is hugely expressive as a soloist. Copenhagen - not Stockholm - syndrome has set in, fear not.

Guitarist Pelle von Bülow and double bassist Matthias Petri allow a good deal of dishy melodic freedom to develop whether that comes over as Petri's neat soloing on 'I'm in the Mood For Love' or Jiggs' playful faux tipsy interpolation of a snatch at 'Blue Monk' at the beginning within the teeteringly compelling springy groove of 'Blue Funk' the improvising method usually high on melodic paraphrase and knowing how to take the melody for a walk often with a swinging gait to the saunter has plenty of life to it all. Never ever hearing 'Tea For Two' again would be too soon but that apart the tune selections - familiar fare all - slip down nicely. To wrap - take Jiggs' Back in Town on its own merits and worry not about being kicked out of top tastemaker spot the Lovingly Bejazzled for admitting to allegedly fuddy duddy taste violations in getting Jiggsy with it - whose taste is it anyway? Certainly this is up there in the same idiom holding its head high with Clifton Anderson's very fine Been Down This Road Before back in 2020 and Steve Davis' supremely mellow Bluesthetic this year.

Jiggs Whigham, photo: Hreinn Guðlaugsson