Cracking the nut that is creating organically hewn, as opposed to factory processed, jazz dance music is something that countless artists have tried with wildly varying degrees of success. Yet the power of the breakbeat, (namely the ‘Amen Break’ and its numerous latter day permutations) and the allure of the dance floor keep pulling in DJ/producers and jazz musicians like moths to a flame. Hence British keyboardist and composer Bill Laurance – a founding member of hip hard-groovers Snarky Puppy – has made a more than decent fist of exploring a distinctly danceable lexicon of sounds here on Flint, his solo debut that's co-written and produced with Snarky leader/bassist Michael League. Fundamentally the core of this album is a highly flexible power trio of the pianist, bassist and über-hip drummer Robert ‘Sput’ Searight (another Puppy) who effortlessly devour everything from drum ‘n’ bass, to post-1990s rave hands-in-the-air piano, house and latin funk feels, but with no shortage of swing in both jazz and hip hop forms. Refreshingly though it's League's artful, highly impressionistic string and brass arrangements that act as a kind of wordless vocal chorus atop of the frenetic trio funkiness, painting highly textured sonic landscapes that echo and enhance Laurance's ear-worm melodies. It's all been laid down live too with occasional electronic effects and clever stereo mix trickery all tweaked in post-production, creating a deceptively polished sound, but one that shifts serious air on headphones and bass bins alike. Flint will push many of the right buttons with EST, Cowley, GoGo Penguin, Glasper, Snarky and Cinematic Orchestra fans while Laurance's winning ways with melody and the album's stirring emotional core brings unity to the its genre-hopping moves. Laurance and the trio plus stings tour here in October, so it'll be interesting to see if this works live as well as it does on record.