The release of 30-year-old Shropshire-born saxophonist and composer Trish Clowes' third CD Pocket Compass comes at the climax of a prestigious two-year residency as a Radio 3 New Generation Artist, just as her excellent previous CD And In the Nigh-Time She is There arrived right at the start. The pianist Gwilym Simcock is a previous incumbent and following his close collaboration on Clowes' previous recording and live dates, he takes his place in her jazz ensemble line up, Tangent, for the new CD. As with Simcock, the label of classical-jazz crossover artist is often applied to Clowes too. But she has an alternative approach to creating a dialogue between jazz and classical musicians that has little to do with fusing genres. Among the originals on Pocket Compass are three pieces featuring some understated arrangements for the BBC Concert Orchestra. But at the centre of the action is Clowes' long serving Tangent quartet, which she formed in 2002 while studying at the Royal Academy, with Simcock's eloquent piano complementing Clowes' sax while at the same time creating a contrast with the plugged-in sonic manipulations of the Troyka leader/electric guitarist Chris Montague. Her compositions cover a diverse idiomatic range: from the ambient sax, guitar overtone and prepared piano soundscaping on ‘Pfeiffer and the Whales’ through to the nostalgic country lilt of ‘Symphony in Yellow’ that has a poignant, romantic theme worthy of Oscar Wilde, whose poem of the same title is its inspiration. From the Tim Berne-like angular sax riffing of ‘Porcupine’ through to her absorbing vocalised soprano sax on the self-explanatory ‘Wayne's Waltz’, and the spirit of Debussy and Ravel that hangs over her tender orchestrations for the BBC Concert Orchestra on ‘Chorale’, this is very stylish and heartfelt new music from a rising young jazz star.