Finding Nymo ACT ****Staying firmly within the big band tradition, Norwegian composer and multi-instrumentalist Helge Sunde deftly coaxes fresh sounds from the conventional instrumentation, spiced with some electronics.

His reed voicings occasionally hint at Gil Evans, though there’s a playfulness and rhythmic vivacity to his work that suggest an altogether more ebullient spirit. Sunde’s charts for the big band extract incident and colour from imaginative play with motivic development and counterpoint,

yet stay clear and accessible and, driven by a rhythm section that includes the great percussionist Marilyn Mazur, swing mightily. Flexible enough to handle the complex writing with aplomb, the band deals dazzlingly with pieces as diverse as the Spanish- flavoured Molto Alghero, an exuberant Obstler and the nocturnal moods of MoonCrierand the dreamlike Valse Trieste. www.actmusic.com