British trumpeter Steve Fishwick is well known as a fleet and expert bebopper, but his sideman performances in more experimental groups at the last London jazz festival confirmed his sharp ear for other kinds of melodies and structures, and this set of five original pieces and works by Ornette Coleman and Puccini is a fine showcase for his new work. He is accompanied by rugged Ronnie Scott Allstars saxophonist Alex Garnett, and Ross Stanley and Tom Cawley on keyboards. A standout is the leader’s elegantly winding, rhythmically hip tribute to the great American trumpeter/composer Tom Harrell; he explores the Tosca theme Vissi D’Arte with a ringing, expository tone that eventually turns into a Miles Davis sound reminiscent of Sketches of Spain over Matt Fishwick’s drums march; and the Ornette Coleman swinger Una Muy Bonita smartly fuses Coleman’s bright, tumbling melodic shapes with a freewheeling rhythmic alertness. This sounds like the work of an evidently expanding talent.
