In scale and ambition, Days On Earth is tenor saxophonist Mark Lockheart’s magnum opus. It’s an impressive achievement in both concept and execution, the work of a musician who has reached middle-age with his adventurous spirit still intact and is prepared to take musical as well as financial risks to bring his project to fruition. The sad fact about today’s music economy is that if you want to undertake a project of this scale and ambition you have to put your money where your mouth is, which Lockheart has done to memorable effect. What emerges is a seven-movement suite that takes its inspiration from aspects of the human condition that inspires the programmatic intent of each composition. The music stems not from a commission, but from inner necessity to make music with a large ensemble over a broad compositional canvas using a jazz sextet plus two clarinets, two flutes, two French horns, two trumpets, two trombones, 13 violins, five violas, four cellos and a harp. The ‘pairs’ of woodwind and brass make for a unique tonal signature, while the music moves through pan-stylistic influences both subtly and overtly refracted in the music to achieve its creative ends. There is much to celebrate in this album whose standout tracks include ‘A View From Above’, ‘Part Animal’ and the engaging ‘Believers’.