Now in his sixties, Ian Shaw has enjoyed an extraordinary career: a witty and charismatic singer, he long ago took up residence at the heart of the British jazz establishment.

This is his 18th album, and although it features fellow veterans like saxophonist Ian Bellamy and drummer Ian Thomas, as well as younger musicians such as his co-writer, the keys player Jamie Safir, it isn’t a jazz album as such. Shaw has often adopted the confessional singer-songwriter style, at one time featuring Gilbert O’Sullivan’s ‘Alone Again Naturally’ in his live set. And with Greek Street Friday he again twitches the curtain to reveal the sensitive little boy behind the raucous, confident exterior.

The musical influences are from the 1970s – Billy Joel (‘Falling Uphill’), Elton John (‘Say a Prayer for Baby Blue’) and Donald Fagen (‘People Who Go Ta-Dah!’ - great title). There’s a fair bit of gospel too – on ‘Years’ and ‘Jackie’s Blues’, the latter featuring guest singer Polly Gibbons. Another motif is Alex Haines’s weepy slide guitar, somewhat in the vein of Skunk Baxter’s work with early Steely Dan. Shaw has met everybody and lived through fascinating times, as the lyrics make abundantly clear. A volume of memoirs can’t be far away.