Ferg Ireland's big tone, sure rhythmic sense, adventurous musicality and lightning fast chops have earned him a place as first-call bassist for a wide range of different musical situations across the London jazz scene. This is the latest instalment in a developing series of trio recordings teaming him with two of the UK's most exciting musical voices, both of whom match the leader in terms of skill, knowledge of the tradition and fearless adventurousness. All the compositions are by Ireland, roaming around the edges of the contemporary jazz landscape: “Stay Broke” uses an ominous bass ostinato as the framework for Facey and Maddren to hang all kinds of creative expositions on, while “Ludwick Blues” is an uptempo piece of mutated bop that gives Facey all the space he needs to explore the kind of sophisticated approaches, pushing at the limits of harmony, that he's developed so effectively as a member of Empirical. There's a nice range of different compositional approaches in evidence – ‘Mel's Mood’ provides a jaunty mood lightener, with Maddren demonstrating his seemingly limitless stock of creative options while staying fiercely committed to the groove, and ‘Fruit Fly’ echoes the pre-bop archaeology of Ireland's regular hang in the Kansas Smitty's band, re-interpreted by the minimalist line-up. ‘Confession’ sees Ireland breaking out the bow for some ominous abstractions before the band explodes into some ferocious three-way improvisation. This is a genuinely exciting meeting of musical minds, providing a terrific exhibition of their ease with a range of language from across the jazz tradition, and a real willingness and ability to use it to create an original statement.