Hell, if you’re a bass player, why not start your solo album with a bass solo? After all, contrary to the nasty old cliché, there’s a good chance people will still be listening nine seconds into the opening track. Williamson is a recent postgrad from the Royal Academy, and also something of a mushroom expert. Musically, he lists his main influences as Lee Konitz, Charlie Haden, Charles Mingus and Bley (I’m not sure which one – presumably Carla), and has spent three years crafting the tunes on The Northern Sea. That’s probably why it sounds so comfortable and in the pocket.

Despite the album’s noticeably fresh, modern sensibility, Williamson eagerly embraces swing – unlike many of his contemporaries. ‘Contrafact 2’, for instance (there are three of them), surges along at a suicidal tempo but sounds controlled, calm and hip thanks in no small measure to the never-flustered Alex Hitchcock. ‘Contrafact 3’ is rendered with just bass, drums and saxophone, the absence of harmony making it hard to guess what the original tune might have been; not that it matters.

Williamson has been astute in his choice of collaborators. Churchill, for example (whose mum Nikki Iles produced the album), handles the wordless melody on ‘2700 Q Street Northwest’ with her usual aplomb and accuracy. And meanwhile the always melodic Mansfield does his Bobby Hutcherson thing with a sympathetic ear, particularly on the brief bass/vibes duo track – a second version of the tune ‘Gozo’.

The Northern Sea is an intriguing debut album, full of variety, an accessible and mature piece of work.