DIEGO URCOLA
Viva CamJazz
*****

Urcola, the brilliant Grammy nominated Argentinian trumpeter and flugelhorn player, has a stellar cast - the front line is Conrad Herwig (trombone), Jimmy Heath (tenor), Edward Simon (piano), Paquito D'Rivera (alto/clarinet) and Dave Samuels (marimba/vibes) - for this superb demonstration of how to absorb the latin tradition fully into the jazz idiom. There is tango, samba, pieces in 7/4 or an oddly assembled 3/4, a kind of subtly disguised modal blues, a persuasive nod towards hard bop, and beautiful ballads, all on material by Urcola and fellow Argintinian composers, including Piazzola. The playing by everyone is magnificent, yet the music is more subtle and complex than the savoury way it lies on the ear. The rhythm section, with Avishai Cohen (bass), Antonio Sanchez (drums) and Pernell Saturnino (percussion), is pure gold, too. Ray Comiskey http://uk.hmboutique.com

BRANFORD MARSALIS
Braggtown Marsalis Music
*****

With this arresting release, Branford has made an album that's probably the best to date from the Marsalis family stable. Working with his regular quartet, completed by Joey Calderazzo (piano), Eric Revis (bass) and Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums), Marsalis displays a rare authority and considerable expressive range. There's the Coltrane-like intensity, momentum and phrase-knawing of Jack Baker and Blakzilla, where the ideas go by at speed with no loss of continuity or control on tenor, and the sheer beauty of his soprano on Hope and Fate (based on an idea from Wagner). And the reverential tenor treatment of Purcell's O Solitude is followed by some of the most uninhibited, free-range blowing on Black Elk Speaks. The quartet functions magnificently throughout. Ray Comiskey  www.marsalismusic.com

SIMON SPILLETT
Introducing Simon Spillett Woodville
***

Tenor saxophonist Spillett freely acknowledges the late Tubby Hayes as a major influence. It's there in the same penchant for ferocious tempos and charging lucidly through them, the superabundance of ideas tumbling out so fast they can hardly wait to be expressed. Spillett can deal eloquently with ballads as well, although the temptation to double-tempo is always there. But the point of it all is that he has the imagination and the technique to do it brilliantly. Good standards are mixed with his own above-average originals and the seal is put on a forceful, well-crafted debut by matching him with the late Ronnie Scott's final, Rolls Royce rhythm section of John Critchinson (piano), Andy Cleyndert (bass) and Martin Drew (drums).  Ray Comiskey www.musicconnection.org.uk