Sam Crowe Group

Synaesthesia F-IRE ****

Synaesthesia F-IRE ****

Classically trained pianist and composer Sam Crowe is a relatively late arrival on the British jazz scene, but this well-crafted album heralds a highly promising talent. Surrounded by some of the best young players around in Adam Waldman (tenor/soprano), Will Davies (guitar), and the gifted bass and drums team of Jasper Høiby and David Smith, Crowe is revealed as a formidable pianist whose distinctive music offers the band variety and sustenance. He also brings a composer's sense of structure to handling the quintet's colours, textures and personalities, while allowing the band members to flourish individually and collectively. It's a dynamic, cohesive unit that can treat a soulful ballad like Fall From Grace, the rhythmic shifts of the driving Synaesthesiaand Mother Nature's Middle Age, or the contrapuntal complexities of Maxmanwith inspiration and aplomb. See f-ire.com