Another fine musician discovered by Edition Records, pianist Eyolf Dale made his first appearance on the label with some assured playing on Daniel Herskedal's acclaimed Slow Eastbound Train in 2015. You can only make a first impression once, and Dale's debut as a leader on an important European jazz label is impressive at several levels – in conception, in execution and from a compositional perspective he succeeds in ticking all boxes. On what is actually his fifth album under his own name since his emergence on the Oslo jazz scene in 2008, it's tacit acknowledgement that in contemporary jazz today, creating an original context in which to function as a jazz musician has now overtaken the killing virtuoso album in importance, since today a high level of technical execution has become the norm – indeed, is expected. The question then becomes, how do I get noticed in a world of virtuosos? Well, the answer is context, in this instance an octet that offers a fresh perspective on the contemporary jazz ensemble that's light on its feet when necessary, but able to impose sufficient gravitas and meaning to a series of compositions that mark Dale out as someone to watch.