Birmingham Conservatoire grad Alex Merritt brings together some interesting influences on his debut disc as leader, released as part of the ‘F-IRE presents’ series. The title is drawn from Buddhist practice and is all about the dropping away of unnecessary attachment to the ‘I’; it means, literally, ‘no self’. That’s an interesting idea in relation to jazz as it is in relation to life more generally: surely a bit of selfish extroversion is essential when you’re a sax-tooting quartet leader? You’ve got to lead the line. At the same time, all quartets (and trios, and quintets, and the rest) need a bit of the spirit of selflessness – a giving of oneself over to the moment – if their interplay is going to scale the summits, and Merritt’s group rise impressively to that challenge. Jeff Williams performed with Stan Getz, and Merritt’s rich but dry tone traces a line back to The Sound, as well as to other Cool School jazzers such as Wayne Marsh. The latter’s contrafact lines are an influence, as is Thelonious Monk (‘Ugly Beauty’ and ‘Pannonica’ are the two non-originals on the disc). There’s also a strong influence from the classical tradition: ‘For Henri Dutilleux’ is a lovely ballad. Merritt doesn’t just name-check the classical greats either, pop gods get a look in too – ‘Justin Time- berlake’ is an early entry into the Best/Worst Track Title of the Year competition.