For those who frequent Ronnie Scott's upstairs jams on a Wednesday, the trumpeter Andy Davies will be a familiar face. His blisteringly lyrical Freddie Hubbard-influenced chops come with a jovial exuberance as if he's playing the freshest music in the world. This is his recording debut co-leading a new band, Simians of Swing, alongside the Italian electric bassist Lorenzo Bassignani. He's joined by a few of his regular sparring partners from the Ronnie's jams including the explosive young drummer Saleem Raman and Fender Rhodes man Benet McLean. The accompanying press release and the sleeve illustrations have the band playing the parts of ‘storytellers in the great comic tradition’, jazz superheroes whose solos are lethal weapons. This positions them in the classic jazz soloist tradition but the comic book theme is also partially reflected in the cinematic noir jazz with which Davies sometimes flavours his pleasantly hooky themes – sometimes reminiscent of Kyle Eastwood's. Of the band's diversely idiomatic though timehonoured blend of post-electric jazz, funky hard bop and latin groove, ‘Gangster in Love’ with a moody guest vocal from vocalist Polly Gibbons, could be a latterday James Bond title theme. And there are ear-catching solos from the likes of guitarist Ant Law and funky keyboardist McLean.