it is perhaps an unhelpful comparison, but it is interesting that the artistic director of the National Youth Choir of Scotland, Christopher Bell, has been using recordings with his young charges (and particularly the National Girls Choir) to explore fascinating corners of repertoire, while Professor Tommy Smith’s youth band – now an established path to a chair with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra – makes discs entirely to showcase the capabilities of a generation. Which is not to say that the choice of material is irrelevant, far from it. Opening with Woody Herman favourite Apple Honey, there are three fine Florian Ross arrangements – of Jerome Kern, Miles Davis and Chick Corea – here, which not only stretch the ensemble but give soloists room to stretch out too. On three of the other tracks one of those is trumpeter Sean Gibbs, who also contributes the set’s sole original composition – Tam O’Shanter from his Burns suite, in which guitarist Joe Williamson and Michael Butcher on tenor sax are given the space to shine. With other players including saxophonist Helena Kay, trombonist Kevin Garrity, and pianists Pete Johnstone and Fergus McCreadie already making their marks in the world beyond the TSYJO, this album is a quality calling card for the latest generation of jazz musicians in Scotland.
