UK-born, US-based Simon Lasky is a very highly regarded composer, pianist and educator who has also made his mark with a series of YouTube interviews with the likes of John McLaughlin and Vince Mendoza.

He’s assembled a top-flight band of star quality musicians from both sides of the pond to realise his latest album, which for the first time features his arrangements of a choice selection of pop songs ancient and modern, alongside his original compositions. Lasky’s compositional chops shine on the sombrely portentous ‘Half A World Away’, a moody quasi-classical duet for piano and guitar, but the predominant sound is a smoothly muscular contemporary fusion, with plenty of tight rhythm arrangements, neat harmonic twists and warm, soulful vocals from Ona K.

He’s not afraid to embrace the musical mainstream, and this album should find a ready audience among those who appreciate the airily virtuosic melodicism of Pat Metheny or the guitar-led studio polish of Steely Dan. Guest Brits Paul Booth and Tim Garland hold their own effortlessly among the assertive US crew who comprise Lasky’s regular working band, and the whole album exudes confidence - the arrangement of ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ is an imaginative re-framing. If you’ve always thought that Michael Jackson’s ‘Human Nature’ would have been improved if the King Of Pop had thought to include some odd-number bars, scat interludes, and a bass solo in the original arrangement, then you need wait no longer - this album is for you.