The latest CD releases reviewed

PAUL MOTIAN/BILL FRISELL/JOE LOVANO
Time and Time Again ECM *****

They've been together for 23 years and, individually and collectively, they're still unique. With leader Motian the archetypal colourist at the drum kit, Frisell's guitar and Lovano's tenor circle each other and engage in dialogue so intimate that even the concept of soloist is undermined. Almost all of it is played slow rubato (Monk's Light Blue has the only explicitly stated pulse), but that's an inadequate term for how they internalise an agreed tempo for each performance and surefootedly weave around it and each other. And, for all their understatement, the elegant, free-range deconstruction of This Nearly Was Mine is eloquent of their subversive ways. This is deceptively simple-sounding, spacious, airy music, supple and sophisticated. And always beautiful. www.musicconnection.org.uk

NEIL COWLEY
Displaced HideInside ***

Pianist Cowley is the new wunderkind of British jazz, and he released this album last year to universal critical approval. It's deserved, with some reservations. Cowley wrote all the music and his pieces, with their frequent use of ostinato, reflect the influence of Frank Zappa. They're well suited to this trio, including Richard Sadler (bass) and Evan Jenkins (drums). It's an electrifying group, in some ways a throwback to a swinging tradition that includes Ahmad Jamal, and they're well capable of generating tremendous momentum and building tension relentlessly. Elements of rock and funk combine with sparing electronic effects, but it's the raw energy and dynamism of the trio's crisp togetherness that make the immediate impact - especially, one suspects, heard live. They're on tour here next week. www.hideinsiderecords.com

DAVID "FATHEAD" NEWMAN
Life HighNote ***

Jazz and r'n'b veteran Newman's latest reunites him with Steve Nelson (vibes) and John Menegon (bass), with Yoron Israel (drums), Peter Bernstein (guitar) and David Leonhardt in on piano for the late John Hicks. The arrangements don't ask Newman to do too much: just wrap his big-toned tenor round some standards, taken either slow or medium tempo, and play flute or alto on some others, with Nelson, Bernstein and Leonhardt bearing the rest of the solo weight. The company, like Newman, is steeped in what's required - even Nelson, from Dave Holland's more demanding band - and they deliver. It's congenial, relaxed and as comfortable as an old slipper. If that's your thing, try this one for size. http://uk.hmboutique.com