Jake Long was the mastermind behind Maisha, one of the best bands to emerge out of the 'new London jazz scene' in the mid-2010s. The debut Maisha album came out on Brownswood in 2018 to widespread acclaim and they went on to tour and record with Gary Bartz in 2020, but Long has kept busy since then playing for a variety of other hip cats, like Oscar Jerome and Snapped Ankles.

This is his debut under his own name, but as it includes all the original Maisha line-up plus some subsequent additions, it’s easy to see it as a continuation, but harder to see it as a progression. The sound is heavier: Twm Dylan’s deep, fluent bass grooves have an almost dub-style relentlessness and Long emphasises the backbeats throughout. We are presented with four long jam-style wig-outs: rather as though wading our way through an interminably verdant tropical forest, we are surrounded by swarming percussion, entangled in thickets of organ and electric piano, periodically soaked in analogue delays, stalked by prowling guitar solos, lost in a landscape at once rich and monotonous.

‘Ideological Rubble’ introduces the twin saxes of dream team Binker and Nubya with initial promise but uncertain outcome: ‘Swamp’ has a rock-bluesy riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Cream album: ‘Celestial Soup’ has a more afro-beat-ish cadence, and ‘Silhouette’ has some beautifully mellifluous saxophone, and the most memorable melodic head of the record - the edited single version is the most satisfying cut here. Fans of head-nodding jams will appreciate the skill and subtlety with which Long and Dylan maintain and extend the grooves, and may well wish that the tracks were longer - others may feel that some stronger writing, tighter editing and a clearer sense of purpose might have added, rather than detracted, from the overall impact.