Trumpeter Hague is a luminary of the potent Bristol jazz scene, as are Waghorn and Blomfield, of course. Their collective excursions to London are rare, but Swanage has always been a happy hunting ground for them, sometimes together or in groups led by saxophonist Kevin Figes. This time the focus is on 10 original compositions by Hague himself. His note defines the intentions and the setting for each piece but, that said, it’s the playing that matters. Hague is a confident, highly experienced instrumentalist whose hold on ideas and capacity for linear improvisation impresses, with Waghorn a close second in his ability to mine the most from the material. Best categorised as neo-bop, the working methodology here is to respond to the mood of each piece, thus ‘In The Bleak Mid-Autumn’ is designed to evoke a cold autumn day and receives suitably understated, not to say muted, reactions from the group. The up-tempo romp ‘Stepping Down’ plays with the iconic ‘Giant Steps’ harmonic sequence and is quite one of the best things on the album, Hague’s clarion trumpet the standout. His ability to find and execute the unexpected phrase comes through impressively on ‘Abraham’, a jubilant piece written after Hague had played in a jam session with Wynton Marsalis, Waghorn sliding through harmonies before Blomfield takes over and builds momentum over the band riffs. Even if the stated aim for these compositions is essentially programmatic, it’s the variety of the musical structures deployed, as well as the sheer spirit and fire in these performances, that makes this a significant milestone for Hague and his chums. If this album and its title is truly meant to signal the attainment of maturity, then well done all round. This is truly grown-up music, with every player contributing, but it’s Hague who does the heavy lifting and, yes, he excels throughout.