The latest releases reviewed.

MICHAEL GARRICK Yet Another Spring JAZA ****

In what may be his most deeply personal album, composer and pianist Garrick uses his big band to chart the story of a life of the emotions. Beginning with the promise of young love, he takes it through the changes wrought by time and life, from joy to anger, bitterness and a kind of shrugging acknowledgement of ultimate defeat. It's a heavy load to carry, yet Garrick does it brilliantly with, somehow, a very English gentle resignation, akin to the poetry of AE Housman, but much more complex. He's well served by singer Norma Winstone, especially on his superbly orchestrated Return of an Angel, the setting of Shake Keane's poem, Angel Horn, and a fine band with strong soloists, particularly Robin Finker (tenor). And there's a gripping orchestral take on Stan Tracey's seminal Starless and Bible Black. www.jazzscript.co.uk Ray Comiskey

ROBERTA GAMBARINI Easy to Love In+Out ****

Gambarini is a young Italian singer much admired by Hank Jones and the late, great Benny Carter. It's not hard to understand why. She's got a lovely, full-bodied voice, an obvious feel for jazz and a musicality evident throughout this CD, which places her mostly in a quartet setting, with two swinging rhythm sections which include a stunningly accomplished pianist, Tamir Hendelman. She spices a programme of standards with nice surprises; Bill Evans's The Two Lonely People (lyrics by Carol Hall), Centerpiece, Monk's Prayer and Looking Back (all with lyrics by Jon Hendricks), and Billy Strayhorn's pastel Multi-Colored Blue. With On the Sunny Side of the Street she sings the Stitt, Gillespie and Rollins solos from the 1957 version they made. In jazz terms Gambarini is the real deal. www.musicconection.org.uk Ray Comiskey