Jeff Williams - Outlier [CD] (ONLINE ORDER ONLY)

On 'Outlier', the accomplished drummer, band leader and composer Jeff Williams collaborates with both seasoned and up-and-coming colleagues from the UK: Josh Arcoleo (tenor saxophone), Phil Robson (guitar), Kit Downes (keys) and Sam Lasserson (basses). This engaging album of originals prompts a dynamic quintet response to a variety of energised compositions.

Across a career spanning four decades, it would seem easiest to consider the musicians with whom Jeff Williams hasn't worked. A respected stalwart of the international jazz circuit, the American drummer has notably rubbed shoulders with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie and Joe Lovano. Williams has graced innumerable New York and London stages over the years, making frequent Atlantic crossings between the two cities.

His third album for Whirlwind (following 2011's 'Another Time' and 2013's 'The Listener'), Williams' 'Outlier' combines previously unrecorded works from the '70s and '80s - such as the driving, fusion-laced "Dream Visitor" and Brazilian-hued "Hermeto" (after Hermeto Pascoal) - with more recent, equally assertive compositions. As an experienced leader at the kit with an instinctive, deeply-imbued jazz sensibility, Williams coaxes intelligent, colourful interplay from his colleagues. As Jeff confirms: "It always astonishes me what these guys - leaders in their own right - bring to the music that I write. They find things I didn't even know existed."

Personnel: Jeff Williams (drums, percussion, Fender Rhodes), Josh Arcoleo (tenor saxophone), Phil Robson (guitar), Kit Downes (piano, Fender Rhodes), Sam Lasserson (double and electric basses)

• Format Detail: CD Digipack
• Format: CD
• Genre: Jazz