This has been out for a while, put out in the States some weeks ahead of this month’s UK-Ireland release.

Part of its success is how quickly it inures itself from a first play, you don’t have to be a jazz-rock fan either indicative of its reach without crossing over at all. New York guitarist Abbasi has collected eight well-chosen tunes from some of the best exponents of the 1970s style (from the music of Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Pat Martino, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Larry Coryell, and Tony Williams), turning down the lamp and crucially the amp on this Brooklyn studio album recorded over a couple of days of April 2014 in the considered and considerable company of vibist Bill Ware, Vijay Iyer trio bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Eric McPherson. Opening with Zawinul’s ‘Black Market’ followed by the much covered Herbie Hancock tune ‘Butterfly’ fusion fans who like plenty of noise and bluster might not be so well disposed to this approach. But those willing to make the leap will find new wine in well seasoned oak barrels for sure. Ideas drive this fine album with a vintage theme, and for that it should be applauded along with the great musicianship and sensitivity on display from all concerned. Stephen Graham