The adventurous, young in-demand Oxford-based pianist seems to enjoy the diverse challenges of integrating composition and improvisation in various-sized ensembles. He's worked in duo with drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, has his own trio, as well as being a member of the Hammond-based Sun Ra influenced group Decoy (with Joe McPhee). He is co-leader of Convergence quartet and his own sextet's excellent recent CD is Step Wide Step Deep. A continued mentorship with Moholo-Moholo in his quartet as well as the ethio-jazz leader Mulatu Astatke's large ensemble looks to have contributed to an invaluable stage in his development as an artist who's self-taught. For this companion piece (released earlier this year) to the aforementioned Step Wide Step Deep, Hawkins steps up to the solo piano stool for the first time on recording – although he's already been impressing in this capacity on international as well as domestic ‘live’ stages. The opener ‘The Way We Dance it Here’ sees Hawkins' post-Cecil Taylor torrents of crunching percussive piano tempered by melody lines (faintly echoing the likes of Gershwin as well as Tatum) that float to the top like a fish surfacing in choppy waters. ‘Early Then, M.A.’ zooms in further on 20th century French impressionistic influences with nods to both Debussy and Messiaen. Hawkins changes tone effectively breaking off from a texturally dense performance to play with an infectious Tristanoish, gentle swing on an alt. bebop piece titled ‘Hope Step the Lava Flow’, and a Monk-like down-home blues ‘Unknown Baobabs (Seen in the Distance)’. Even in his quieter moments, Hawkins' work is always characterised by a simmering harmonic and rhythmic tension. The latter track seems to emerge from the previous, a take on Billy Strayhorn's ‘Take the A Train’, (the only non-original) where familiar fragments of the tune leap out of Hawkins' churning piano runs.