On Ginger Baker's first studio album in 16 years, tracks like the bluesy crawler, ‘Cyril Davis’, match Pee Wee Ellis' sassy, urban alto sax with Ghanaian master drummer Abass Dodoo's shakers and small percussion in a valiant synthesis of Baker's abiding twin passions: American jazz and African rhythms. Across eight tracks, Baker's Jazz Confusion quartet delve deep in both directions, with respectful takes on iconic jazz standards including Wayne Shorter's ‘Footprints’ and steamy, conga-heavy, polyrhythmic grooves like ‘Ginger Spice’, which echo Afro-rock outfit Osibisa as much as they do Baker's own Air Force. There's a pared-back, uncluttered sound to the ensemble playing that lets Baker's idiosyncratic approach come through loud and clear. In fact, what's remarkable is just how consistently recognisable Baker's style is: whether he's playing jazz, Afrobeat or psychedelic blues rock, his language is based around tumbling tom patterns and tight triplets held together by a metronomic hi-hat and deceptively light ride cymbal work. There's never really been another drummer quite like him.