Gavin Barras’ double bass is the engine that drives this latest from Manchester-based trumpeter, Matthew Halsall. Each tune is built around a satisfyingly deep bass riff, providing the framework for the more diaphanous trimmings of Rachael Gladwin's harp and Keiko Kitamura's koto, which combine to create a kind of ersatz oriental vibe. That's nowhere more apparent than on ‘As I Walk’, which owes a great deal to Leon Thomas's ‘China Doll’ – and marks a broadening of Halsall's palette to include other influences beyond the early 1970s LPs of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, which have been so apparent on previous albums. Working with vocalists for the first time also marks a major departure: Josephine Oniyama and Bryony Jarman Pinto bring a sultry soulfulness to Halsall's arrangements, with ‘Badder Weather’ riding an urgent rim-shot groove reminiscent of Superfly-era Curtis Mayfield. There are plenty of ideas crammed into the 39 minutes of Into Forever, but it could easily have been a more expansive double album: too many of the 11 shortish tracks seem to end just as they're getting started, like preliminary sketches for something much bigger. Bring back double gatefold LPs.