Gerald Clark, a London-based composer-arranger, has played a patient game with this release; he started writing the music for this six-part Jazz Suite, in 2002. The suite reflects Clark's feelings about the Palestinian issue, the title Nakba meaning disaster in Arabic and referring to the Palestinian exodus in 1948. The inspiration behind the recording seems to have borne fruit and whatever you might feel about Palestinian affairs, there's rarely a dull moment on this dynamically performed, well-crafted set of compositions. Clark doesn't play anything here himself but there's some energetically assured performances all round from a line up that includes Johnny Lippiett, a New York-based English tenor saxophonist, whose old-fashioned bends and growls are a neat addition to his funky bebop vocab. The London-based trumpeter Byron Wallen's searching sound is tailor made for developing Clark's eastern-tinged themes, while the impressive Peru-based English pianist Duncan Haynes, and the young and highly rated rhythm section of bassist Sam Lasserson and drummer Dave Hamblett are fired up and play great. Clark has said that if Art Blakey was making contemporary music today he likes to think it would sound something like the music on Nakba and comparisons as well can be drawn to the work of both Charles Lloyd and Tomasz Stañko. Clark puts his money where his mouth is: all proceeds from the album will go to Palestinian charities.