Album: Gwilym Simcock, Good Days at Schloss Elmau (Act)

Wunderkind pianist Simcock's two previous albums were marred a little by dad-jazz tendencies and what could be seen as bumptiousness (putting a pic of the tip of an iceberg on the cover does rather tempt fate).

There's more fogeyish statements here but the music is both serious and impressive: a solo debut recorded in a stately Bavarian spa resort, with Simcock having a good run at nine originals. The lyrical John Taylor-isms we've heard from him before are mixed with rhythmical, even bluesy, workouts.