Jazz

Nguyen Le: (ACT)

This is a gorgeous album, unified by a finely integrated trio - Le (guitars, synths, mandolin), Renaud Garcia-Fons (bass) and Tino Di Geraldo (drums, percussions) - the force of Le's compositional skills and sympathetic guests, including tenor Chris Potter, trumpeter Paolo Fresu and pianist Jon Balke; others, from Spain, Algeria, Turkey, Vietnam and France also contribute magnificently. Musically, the mixture is an extraordinarily effective synthesis of jazz, Middle and Far Eastern, flamenco and rock influences, emerging as lyrical, beautiful and superbly focused, with improvised passages woven seamlessly into the fabric of each performance. Even without the guests the trio's range of colours is considerable - Le has assimilated his sources into an impressive whole. Catch them in Dublin next week.

Ray Comiskey

Greg Osby: The Invisible Hand (Blue Note)

Using alto and clarinet, Osby joins two great veterans, pianist Andrew Hill and guitarist Jim Hall, and outstanding younger musicians in reedman Gary Thomas, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, for a reflective, astringently melancholic album. Apart from his probing intelligence, Osby's virtues rest on his rhythmic manipulation of line and an ability to make cohesive sense of its surprising twists and fragments. Hill, equally adept, with a rich harmonic palette, and Hall, a master of space, fit well into the crucible of his music, where, despite its rather narrow emotional range, there is much to absorb and admire, with Colley and Carrington a flexible Greek chorus to the others' deliberations. Standouts include splendid reassessments of Nature Boy, Indiana and Jitterbug Waltz.

Ray Comiskey

More CDs reviewed in tomorrow's Weekend supplement.