The wonder is that it's taken Robson so long to set up such a trio. What doesn't surprise however is that from the urgent statement of intent that is ‘Thief’, The Cut Off Point hits the floor running and doesn't let up until the closing groove of ‘Ming The Merciless’ shuts ratchet-tight and Calderazzo yelps “Yeah, we got an album!” And the man's right: this collection works as an organically programmed project, an album that sticks closely to its stylistic roots: tight, intimate post-bop which, for all its edge, is never far from a melody. And secondly, this is definitely a ‘we’ project. No way are Stanley and Calderazzo here to add local colour, big up the guitar and pick up the cheque (What cheque? This is jazz! – Ed). The Cut Off Point's prime pleasure is hearing the three go into one. This is trio as solo instrument, with Robson and compadres as tight and counterpoised as you'd expect, whether it's on the intimate knots of the boppish ‘Berlin’ or the rockier extrapolations of the title track, one of the few cuts in which Robson lays on the distortion while Stanley has an attack of Larry Young-itis with swirling swishes of eerie chords. The pair have a particularly gnarly chat with Calderazzo barging in occasionally to sort out the mayhem. Robson's material dominates except for a cover of Dave Liebman's ‘Dimi And The Blue Men’, which morphs from Sputnik bleeps to a unifying groove that was there all the time, wasn't it? Mix in the melancholy of a blues like ‘Second Thoughts’, which of course erupts into a joyous swinger, and you have an album steeped in the jazz language of the organ/guitar trio, a uniquely jazz format, yet one that adds a twist all of its own.