The 26-year-old pianist-composer Sam Leak is the man behind Aquarium, a quartet that a lot of critics picked up on following an impressive self-titled debut release two years ago on the Babel Label. The pianist's slyly enigmatic yet bracing sax-led themes are less calculated than those on the previous album, and flow more organically into the sections of improvisation that follow. As a composer he seems most drawn to the classic jazz sounds of Keith Jarrett's European Quartet, the post-ECM Charles Lloyd group through to the 1960s free bop of Wayne Shorter. Aquarium is made up of ex-Royal Academy graduates, all having noticeably matured of late into more self-possessed, discerning jazz players without sacrificing any of their youthful energy. Kit Downes' regular bassist Calum Gourlay and Troyka's drummer Josh Blackmore are very impressive and reedsman Allsopp is more dreamily sensual on tenor sax than we are perhaps used to hearing in the quirkier, tonally-wayward and in-yer-face bands Fraud, Snack Family and latterly his The Golden Age of Steam. Sam Leak was a name to watch at the beginning of last year and on the evidence of Places he's certainly living up to his early promise.

Jazzwise spoke to Sam Leak about the album

You seem to be a composer and musician more comfortable with following your instincts regardless of whether what comes out is considered original or not?

There's a great Jarrett quote about this. He describes the attempt to be unique as ‘egotistical.’ He says ‘as far as I’m concerned, the last thing you should try to be is original. If you sound like 80,000 others, as long as you don't imitate, it's still music.' I think it's really telling that a musician who arguably has one of the most distinctive voices in jazz thinks in this way. More often than not self-conscious attempts at originality seem to miss the point. I'm certainly not ‘anti-originality’. Most of my favourite musicians do have original voices as players and composers. My issue is more to do with the broad attitude towards originality. Originality shouldn't be forced – as long as you involve yourself with the music that you like in an open and honest way then you can't help but sound like yourself. The idea that music needs to ‘progress’ is a contemporary cliché – the music will evolve anyway if you stand back and let it.

How would you say your writing has evolved for Aquarium since the debut album in 2011?

This album is both harmonically and texturally broader than the last one. The compositions are a lot more open, and there is much more room for improvising. The tunes are mostly a bit darker and sadder. It was a bleak, cold February in which I was mugged at knifepoint, so that probably explains a few things!

Who are your main jazz piano influences and have they changed over time?

I've recently started getting into guys like Jozef Dumoulin and Benoit Delbecq and young UK pianists are inspiring too. For a long time I've loved Keith Jarrett, John Taylor, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and older guys I really like, Bud Powell, Tristano and Red Garland. Some of the most important musicians for me aren't piano players, people like Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, Dewey Redman, Warne Marsh and John Coltrane.