Dudley Phillips has led a busy and varied musical existence since coming to prominence in the seminal 1990s Brit-jazz band Perfect Houseplants. The ‘Plants helped pioneer a distinctly British mix of modern jazz that skewed closer to folk and pastoral classical than bebop, delivered with verve and precision and some typically self-deprecating humour – the music on this album definitely inhabits a similar soundworld. Philips leads a lot of the tracks, getting a great sound from his acoustic bass guitar, on a programme of carefully scripted originals with an array of guest players. Listening to the album is rather like wandering through an English country garden surrounded on ‘Baskerville Hall’ by elegant topiaries of picked acoustic guitar and mandolin, visited on ‘Crying Out’ by exotic avifauna like George Crowley’s virtuosic bass clarinet or (on ‘Wilderness Flowers’) Yazz Ahmed’s flugelhorn, led down gravelled paths and shady walkways by Rod Youngs' subtle and responsive drumming. There’s extra oud added to delightful effect on the excellent ‘Samai 4 7 Samurai’ and ‘Rowdy Guests’ gets a bit rowdier, but order is soon restored. Best enjoyed in the shade on a hot day with a cool glass of something to hand.