The latest CD reviewed

PAUL MURPHY
The Trip Afro Art ****

Various long train trips while holidaying in India provided Paul Murphy with the sparks for this set of jazzy and spirited high rollers. For the Afro Art label boss, legendary jazz-dance scencester, acid jazz pioneer and one-time Cork resident, The Trip was an ideal opportunity to put a shape on various musical ideas and notions that were on his to-do list. What you'll hear are tracks which are adventurous, elegant and accomplished in how they poke and push various jazzy grooves around. Murphy has chosen his collaborators well, with Roger Beaujolais on vibes and ex-Freak Power dude Ashley Slater on trombone helping to ignite each track. Slater is the star on Seven Samurai, his trombone leading the way on Murphy's epic reworking of Fumio Hayasaka's theme for the Akira Kurosawa classic. Elsewhere, you'll be impressed by Murphy's new, tougher version of Soul Call and such atmospheric mood-setters as Budapest Chachacha. All aboard.

[ www.afroartrecords.comOpens in new window ]