Mark Isaacs - Tell it like it is

   The finest band Mark Isaacs has had is certainly rich in raw material. Within the loose unity of having jazzy harmonies layered over rhythms derived from rock, gospel and Latin feels, every composition is utterly distinctive, and pushes the improviser somewhere new.

Isaacs deploys his own piano, James Muller's guitar and Matt Keegan's saxophone with a precision that builds them into the form of each piece, but without stifling the potential of the improvised sections to reach a state of the abandon when the collective is so inclined.

  "You Never Forget Love", for instance, passes the gentle theme (and variations) between piano, guitar and tenor before they solo in earnest. The beautifully elegiac, TS Eliot-inspired "Between
the Shores" seems entirely composed, which contrasts with the open-the-bar mood of "Tell It Like it Is", a shuffle driven by bassist Brett Hirst and drummer Tim Firth, with cauterising guitar from Muller.
  

John Shand  SMH