Album: John Surman, Saltash Bells (ECM)

There's something magnificent about solid yeoman reeds-master Surman tootling away against the Walter/

Wendy Carlos-style synth fugues of "Whistman's Wood", the stonking opening track of this latest instalment in a 40-year series of solo recordings. Surman thanks his son Ben for updating his customary tech-spec to modern electronica standards, and while there's perhaps a surfeit of synth-washes, the beautiful "Winter Elegy" superbly fulfils the opening promise. PJ