Ollie Howell swung through karmic extremes in 2009, distracted from the growing pain in his head by the patronage of Quincy Jones and Jimmy Cobb, till finally diagnosed with a potentially paralysing brain malformation. The young Oxfordshire pianist-turned-drummer began composing in the hospital ward, leading to 2013 debut Sutures and Stitches. Jones' mentoring continues, his jazz truism that your music equates to your humanity leading Howell to conclude to Drummer that, “if you are a genuinely nice, caring and open person then you play like that”. Miles or Mingus' abrasiveness wasn't considered, and his debut's positive post-op transcendence continues with this optimistic work. Easy-going melody and sunlit climbing characterise the compositions, as when ‘Rise and Fall’'s lugubrious sax is overtaken by the band's quick clamber to some rocky summit, where they subside, satisfied. There is some gentle piano melancholy, more sweet than bitter, and exultant brass solos, but a lack of variety in arrangements over 68 minutes. Song-titles – ‘The Unknown’, ‘In Truth’, ‘Coming Home’ – move towards wisdom and resolution, but fall short of such profundity in practise. There is, though, genuinely felt emotion throughout, warm comfort almost like an anaesthetic after previous pain.