The latest CDs reviewed.

Ugly Beauty Soul Note

Ciacca is a much-admired pianist who, despite his roots in bop, has also played on the cutting edge with the likes of the late Steve Lacy. Some of that sense of adventure shines through on this fine trio album with Dennis Irwin (bass) and Ali Jackson (drums), but essentially it's a straight-ahead session from a player on top of the material and at ease with his colleagues. A few of Ciacca's originals lack strong musical presence, but there is, nevertheless, a kind of magisterial serenity about the performances that's testimony to the grip this trio can exert. The stronger the material, the better they register, with Monk's Pannonica/Ugly Beauty and standards It Could Happen to You and But Not for Me impressing most. http//uk.himboutique.com

Ray Comiskey

The Itch Dox

If you like avant-gardisms laced with an earthy sense of humour, Dutch altoist Herman's latest, with Anton Goudsmit (guitar), Ernst Glerum (bass) and celebrated cutting-edge drummer Han Bennink should more than meet the bill. The intent is signalled with opener M.M., based on, inter alia, Flat Foot Floogie, Pennsylvania 65000 and Three Little Words. But there's also a bitingly swinging, straight-ahead manner to much of the music, poised somewhere between mockery and seriousness, with well-managed chaos ready to intrude. Make no mistake, though, these guys can play. Herman describes it as "surf-guitarbased, Dutch impro, cocktail-jazz . . . like a date with Doris Day in a raunchy Amsterdam coffee-shop." Presumably one offering the traditional smoke menu of suitable herbs to spice it.

www.musicconnection.org.uk

Ray Comiskey