In relative terms, jazz is the new kid on the block compared to the western tradition of classical music, and those who argue that never the twain shall meet overlook the very obvious fact that for the jazz musician, classical music represents a massive data base of musical wisdom accumulated over several centuries. Over the years there have been many attempts at a fusion of jazz and classical, from Alec Templeton's arrangement of ‘Bach Goes to Town’ popularised by the Benny Goodman Orchestra to Third Stream in the 1950s and to the very obvious influence the music exerted on John Lewis, the de facto leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet. But few have so convincingly straddled the two as convincingly as piano virtuoso David Rees-Williams. His previous albums Hidden Colours (2002), Time Scape (2004) and Thinking Allowed (2007) represent an impressive body of work to which can be added Back from Before. The classically trained with a thorough understanding of jazz, Rees-Williams is as absorbing as he is moving and exhilarating. In the past Rees-Williams has broadened the sound spectrum of the piano trio with the use of the organ, here goes a stage further using a Hammond organ, vibraphone and cello to colour certain songs, such as his particularly effective use of the Hammond on Widor's ‘Symphonie No. 6, Movement 1.’ Drawing largely on composers associated with the church (Bach, Parry, Wesley, Gibbons) plus Mozart, Widor, Tchaikovsky and Pergolesi he points out that composers for the church were fine melodic craftsmen, and as he observes in the liner notes, his adaptation of piece like Wesley's ‘Wash Me Thoroughly’ would not seem out of place in a standards collection. Equally he grafts a little blues feeling onto Mozart's ‘Gigue in G, K.574’ and makes the most of the driving energy lurking within Bach's ‘Prelude in C Major/Partita in C minor.’