The Barcelona-based Fresh Sounds franchise has been breaking new jazz talent ever since its inception in 1983. Robert Glasper, Marcus Strickland and Jaleel Shaw all released career-opening albums on the New Talent subsidary and its release schedule remains a good indication of which way the mainstream is heading. Now the label has opened a new wing specialising in artists based in California with this set from pianist Joshua White's sax and rhythm quartet. The band's core aesthetic delivers shapeshifting linear narratives that change tempo and mood. Thus the fractured piano scampers that open the CD are something of a false trail; the core theme of ‘The Ignoble Parody of Modernity – West’ is a hard-edged riff supported by rocking beats. ‘Curiosity Landing’ starts as a free ballad featuring Josh Johnson's inquisitive alto sax over the swish of Jonathon Pinson's brushed snare, before morphing into a lyrical medium-tempo lope. And the free beginning of the closer, ‘The Lower Case’, switches to walking bass swing. Dean Hulett on bass and Pinson on drums combine well and follow the form. Though unspectacular, they create a strong pulse on the fractured funk of ‘Scarlet Tanager’ and elegiac lyricism on ‘Morning’, the album's strongest track. Alto-saxophonist Josh Johnson is less confident on the free passages, but elsewhere his clean articulation and melodic drive compensate for a slightly thin tone. Leader Johnson, however, is somewhat ahead of his support and the band tracks are at their best when he is at full stride. The CD also includes five solo piano fragments, ‘CG1-5’, though these are not programmed in numerical order. Here Johnson reveals the full extent of his roots with a touch that combines the brittle angularity of Herbie Nichols, as well as the rippling rhythms of Glasper. Definitely one to watch.