Sam Coombes' other job is as a French lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, the city in which he currently resides. He's a frequent visitor to France and that's where he met the rhythm section that have recorded Pace of Change, his fourth album as leader. The band is a well-oiled yet playfully contemporary groove machine although being just skeletal sax-bass-drums this sharp focus on rhythm makes the recording something of a test for the listener with the playing time clocking in at close to an hour. But with the funk, latin and hip hop-derived beats, metre-shifting cross rhythms, contemporary sonic production values, and Coombes' effortlessly bluesy cool jazz on saxophone, the effect is relaxing and hypnotic. Yoni Zelnik's richly grounded bass groove and a few of the leader's sparse folky themed compositions at times evoke something of their compatriot Henri Texier, which is no bad thing.