John Edwards, N.O. Moore, Eddie Prévost, Alan Wilkinson, EMPoWered, 577 Records ***

Each of the instrumentalists saxophonist Alan Wilkinson, electric guitarist N.O. Moore, double bassist John Edwards and drummer Eddie Prévost scramble along in a sidelong manner with Wilkinson's wheezy cries and bluesy ache heard at the top of the sound and a whole undergrowth of bass rumbles and rapture bubbling up from Edwards and Moore at the bottom. Quite desultory and apparently deliberately so! Prévost chivvies the others along but he is not about strict time-keeping or imposing any kind of order on the recording laid down in early 2019 at Iklectik in London. It certainly succeeds in its own whimsical and often shapeless way. Wilkinson's neat little trills can be a shock when jutted against Moore's bluesy bursts. It's the quiet thunder of Edwards who glues this ramshackle collection of ideas together and provides a binding. A puzzling anarchic sound but none the worse for that and as idiosyncratic as a lot of avant improvising can be these days.

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Fans and musicians are paying tribute to trombone icon Locksley Wellington ''Slide'' Hampton who has died at the age of 89. The JazzCorner website has relayed news of his passing, although there are no further details.

Hampton as a teen was already touring the Midwest of the United States in a band led by his father and became influenced by Wes Montgomery and J. J. Johnson. He joined Maynard Ferguson's band in his twenties and later played with Art Blakey and Dizzy Gillespie among others. In 1962 Hampton formed the Slide Hampton Octet which had Booker Little, Freddie Hubbard and George Coleman in the band.

Hampton moved to Europe in the late-1960s and played with luminaries such as Benny Bailey and Kenny Clarke. A decade later back in the States he taught masterclasses at Harvard and Indiana University and formed the World of Trombones ensemble featuring 9 trombones and a rhythm section.

Hampton appeared on Charles Mingus record Pre-Bird (released in 1961) aka Mingus Revisited on which he featured among a 4 trombone section that also included Jimmy Knepper. He is also on Hank Mobley's The Flip (1970) and Dexter Gordon's Sophisticated Giant (1977) on which he played and arranged all the material.

In 1998 Hampton won a Grammy for best jazz arrangement with a vocalist for Dee Dee Bridgewater's recording of 'Cotton Tail.' And in 2005 he became an NEA Jazz Master – the United States' highest jazz honour.

John Edwards, N.O. Moore, Eddie Prévost, Alan Wilkinson, EMPoWered, 577 Records ***

Trombone icon Slide Hampton has died at the age of 89