JAZZ

Kevin MacKenzie: The Ballad of Future Joe (Laundry Room Music) ****

Guitarist Kevin MacKenzie is joined by two other Scottish jazz luminaries, double-bassist Mario Caribé and drummer Alyn Cosker, and you’d be hard-pressed to assemble a better matched and more mutually empathetic trio. All written by Mackenzie, bar an dreamy cover of the Reinhardt classic Nuages, the album combines warmth of tone with crisp dexterity, as in the lithe guitar explorations of the opening Mouse Commute, borne along by steadily intensifying drum work. The title track is indeed gently balladic, the bass taking a leisurely meander of its own, while The Waiter is driven by a militaristic snare reminiscent of a Morricone score. Purposeful bass and drums also carry the catchy guitar narrative of If a Tree Falls, while Sisyphus develops from initially sedate mode into the album’s most intense track before MacKenzie’s solo and Cosker’s barrage finally subside over bowed bass. - Jim Gilchrist