This is the trumpeter's fifth album as leader, but it was 2018's Origami Harvest that broke all previous moulds, harnessing a string quartet, jazz group, rapping and spoken word to a social-issues agenda that focused on structural racism in America. This time, Akinmusire pursues his themes with just his own quartet, consisting of long-term collaborators Sam Harris on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass and Justin Brown on drums, along with some guest vocals from Cenevieve Artadi and Jesus Diaz. But Akinmusire has such great mastery of his instrument that you could say he makes it talk, and he certainly puts the message across. Known in recent years for his work with Kyle Eastwood and his own Craviton ensemble, McCormack still loves the challenge of a solo concert - as he puts it, 'You could say I'm addicted'. He wrote some of the pieces here in 2016, and performed them at the London Jazz Festival. But they were put aside until last year, when he dusted them off and added new ones to create this welcome solo album. Never flashy but always communicative, revealing harmonic depths and depth of feeling too, his playing always has a pulse. And he rounds off this absorbing set with a subtly re-harmonised and freshly-absorbing 'For All We Know' that just hits the spot.
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