"Jake Leckie creates rootsy acoustic organic funky folk-jazz for the people!" So says Leckie’s own website, and who can disagree? His previous album, The Guide (2022), featured his regular core band, The Guide Trio – guitarist Nadav Peled, drummer Beth Goodfellow and Leckie himself. For this latest outing, that trio is supplemented by Cathlene Pineda on piano, Randal Fisher on tenor sax and Darius Christian on trombone.

And they make a terrific sound together. Leckie provides some ear-catching tunes and his collaborators add dashing solos – check out the collective improvisional force of contributions from Peled and co on the speeding, tumbling ‘Clear Skies’. Leckie launches the swinging blues of ‘Big Sur Jade’ – a touch of late 1950s Miles, a suggestion of Mingus – with a bass solo. The supplementary trio of players is never de trop, but two performances featuring just Leckie, Goodfellow and Peled – ‘Santa Teresa’ and ‘String Song’ – demonstrate the virtues of the stripped-back approach.