Euan Burton

Occurrences Whirlwind ****

Scottish bassist and composer Euan Burton’s third album as leader is a perfect storm of the right musicians in the right frame of mind having the right compositions put in front of them. “I was trying to think like a film director”, says Burton, “developing a narrative, pacing it right for the audience and leaving space for the actors to make their roles their own”.

For his cast, Burton has recruited just about as good a band as could be sourced from amongst his peers: NY-based Londoner Will Vinson on alto saxophone, rising Belfast guitarist Mark McKnight, fellow Scot Steve Hamilton on piano and keyboards and up and coming English drummer James Maddren.

The result is a superbly judged recording, imbued with warmth and optimism, but played with the kind of utter conviction that, in jazz terms, is more American than European, bearing comparison with Brian Blade's Fellowship band, Kurt Rosenwinkel's groups and Ben Allison's similarly suite-like narratives. euanburton.com