The Impossible Gentlemen Basho *****

Steve Swallow and Adam Nussbaum are US greats, Gwilym Simcock (one of this year's Mercury Prize nominees) is the new British piano star and Mike Walker, a brilliant guitarist, is one of England's best-kept secrets, yet their rapport as The Impossible Gentlemen is sensational. Odd time signatures – Sure Would Baby, for example, is a robust blues in 7/4 – and complex unison guitar/piano and guitar/electric bass lines flow with organic ease. The originals, four by Walker, three by Simcock and one by Nussbaum, range from the uptempo intricacies of Laugh Linesand Play the Gameto the bucolic grace of Clockmakerand the elegant gentleness of Wallenda's Last Standand Gwil's Song. But if anything shows this swinging, imaginative quartet's ability to marry composition and improvisation it's the melodic shape and eloquent dynamics of When You Hold Her. World class. See impossiblegentlemen.com