The latest releases reviewed.

SPIKE WELLS-GWILYM SIMCOCK-MALCOLM CREESE Reverance Audio-B ****

Led by Wells on drums, with Creese on bass and Simcock on piano, this is a superbly democratic unit, with the gifted young Simcock up front and in focus. He's harmonically well endowed, and his lines are so personal, his rhythmic control so flexible, that he can go anywhere, confident of validation in the pliant, subtle, constantly surprising interaction of the group. It's fresh, flowing and full of the unexpected, relying almost exclusively on a diet of standards. If the ingredients are conventional, however, the trio prepares and cooks them in its own way. Just to experience how I Hear a Rhapsody is morphed into Alone Together is rather special, but so is what they do with Emily, You Don't Know What Love Is, or the spacey, euphoric groove they strike on My One and Only Love. Creativity isn't just a question of style or breaking boundaries. www.audio-b.com RAY COMISKEY

LUKE KELLY Working Class Hero Celtic Arts ****

Distilled passion was the essence of Luke Kelly's genius, and this collection casts a cold eye and a politically informed ear on a diverse collection of labour inequities, stretching from Egyptian slavery to Pennsylvanian collieries, iconic Swedish union leaders (Joe Hill) and the tyrannical suppression of Travellers. Kelly delivers his pithy observation that "there's a bylaw that says you must be on your way/And another that says you can't wander" in his trademark declamatory style that celebrates humanity while castigating its worst excesses. Straightforward musical accompaniment and Kelly's trademark banjo add further riches to this gathering. Previous Dubliners and solo collections never quite managed to capture Kelly's keenly politicised perspective, but Working Class Hero rights that wrong without a hint of sentimentality. www.allmediaentertainment.co.uk SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks: Joe Hill, The Molly Maguires

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE Not Forgotten Munich Records ****

Don't ask me how this man from South Carolina has managed to evade my attention to date, but, boy, am I going to make up for lost time. Holcombe has a voice that would give sandpaper a bad name, a face lined with the tracks of his 50-plus years, a guitar style that is by turns brutish and sensitive, and a heap of songs that resonate with honesty and passion. There is no sense of artifice. Every note counts, every line is meant, and his rumbling, crumbling baritone tosses and turns inside songs, squeezing every last spark from their smouldering fire. It's folk, folk-blues and country-blues whittled to a primitive essence via a stripped-down rhythm section coloured by banjo, lap steel, harmonica and Holcombe's own expressive acoustic guitar. Not Forgotten is powerful stuff, evocative and dramatic, but striking so many different moods that the end always comes too soon. www.malcolmholcombe.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Goin' Home, Your Eyes Will Shine, This Ol' House

JOSH ROUSE Country Mouse City House Bedroom Classics *****

There's something reluctant about Josh Rouse the rock star. His whispered vocals and softly swollen sound, which owes much to Al Green and the Memphis Sound and the classic pop-rock of the 1970s, offers no dramatic shapes. The nearest he comes to excitability is on a jaunty tune such as Hollywood Bass Player, all wry lyrics and attractive melody, or the rushed Nice to Fit In. And yet Rouse remains one of the most distinctive, affecting and enjoyable songwriters of his generation, a fact underlined by this gently compelling album. Rouse, who was raised in Tennessee, lives in Valencia, and Country Mouse City House has a slightly European feel of alienation. However, this is not a man on the ropes but a man who worries he might be. Muted angst has rarely sounded so engaging. www.joshrouse.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Italian Dry Ice, Pilgrim, London Bridges

PHIL WOODS American Songbook II Kind of Blue ***

After a few months' break, the veteran altoist assembled his working band, with Brian Lynch (trumpet), Bill Charlap (piano), Steve Gilmore (bass) and Bill Goodwin (drums). With no rehearsal, they cut this fine album in two days. There are surprises. Standards are as comfortable as old shoes to this quintet, seasoned by years together, and the arrangements, occasionally featuring some unison boppish lines for trumpet and alto, provide a good framework for the soloists. Woods and Lynch, despite the latter's post-bop touches, are rooted in that idiom, while Charlap, with a more mainstream sensibility, offers an effectively contrasting solo voice. This is a quality group doing its own thing with the kind of mellow, well-crafted authority that comes from the comfort zone of experience. Asking for more is a bit like requiring a milestone to walk down the road. www.kindofbluerecords.comRAY COMISKEY

PAUL WILLIAMSON Far Away Here Jazzhead ****

Australian expat Williamson leads a high-calibre Down Under band, with Paul Grabowsky (piano), Jamie Oehlers (tenor), Rodrigo Aravena (bass) and Felix Bloxsom (drums), on an album that is as arresting as it is individual. Part of its personality is determined by the quality and character of the compositions, all but two of which are by Williamson, who plays trumpet, flugelhorn and cornet; the rest comes from quintet's collective and solo strength. Oehlers, instantly identifiable, and Williamson, so expressive in his use of smears and register leaps to heighten the drama of his solos, are outstanding; the considered, structured, but not too rigid context and the flexibility and responsiveness of the others suits them, and their solos somehow strike a logical balance between order and spontaneity that usually happens only in a working band. www.jazzhead.com RAY COMISKEY