The rarer big bands become, the more excitement they generate. And few know better how to harness all that energy than John Surman. As you'd expect from such a self-denying character, Surman's writing and arrangements aren't simply vehicles to propel his own talents. Instead he's keen to use the band as an instrument itself, and within that bigger whole, individual voices are evocatively nested. So the opening cut, ‘Another Sky’, rich with sliding ‘bones and ethereal guitar, is essentially an ensemble work; but Surman knows a good pitch when he sees one, and his baritone revels in a spacious take on Monk's ‘Ruby My Dear’. John Warren's arrangements are to the fore too, notably on ‘Spending My Time’ and the re-working of ‘Ruby My Dear’. Surman continues to play with a gusto almost indecent for a man of his, um, maturity: originally written decades ago for Henry Lowther, ‘Carpet Ride’ moves from an almost Yiddish lament to a blatant rocker of Mike Gibbsian stature. But it's the harum-scarum closer ‘Scare ‘Em Up’, which swings out superbly. Big sky, big man, big music: big is beautiful.