Having earned his spurs with the likes of Ray Warleigh and Mick Pyne, drummer Paxton toured and recorded with Humphrey Lyttelton's band for three years in the 1980s and then sensibly decided to find himself a proper job and started his own business. More recently, he has moved back into jazz with Alan Skidmore's Ubizo band but now has taken the bold step of starting his own group and writing an albumfull of material for it. Using a wide variety of compositional approaches and tempos, Paxton hints at a whole array of influences, the writing and playing elegiac in the opening ‘Sleepwalker’ (with Shaw eloquent on flugelhorn) but more animated on the Messengers-like ‘Chimaera’ which Paxton characterises as ‘an up-tempo, fire breathing monster’ and so it is, eliciting some of the best playing on the disc. Then again, there's the short, hymn-like ‘Sacred Places’, through-composed, these followed by a further six pieces, each characterised by careful consideration for harmonic and rhythmic interest. As might be imagined with the calibre of musicians that he has recruited, the playing is exemplary and Paxton's own drumming is up there with the best. That said, Shaw is the standout performer here, expert in carrying the lead, darting hither and thither, each solo marked by harmonic nuance and an innate sense of structure, heard at his best on ‘Chimaera’ and on the admirable ‘Anon’. As ever, Lockett pursues his own athletic way around the harmonies and Aspland finds inventive often brilliant responses, also excelling on ‘Anon’, Dankworth pacing everything admirably. The instrumentation might suggest just another hard bop combo: not so.