Paul Edis Sextet
There Will Be Time
Jazz action ***
A second release involving 27-year-old north east pianist Paul Edis, following his appearance on ACV’s Babel debut Busk released earlier this month, There Will Be Time, with a clock on the front depicting the timepiece’s hands stuck at eight minutes past ten surrounded by autumnal leaves, is a three-horn sextet full of the spirit of the Jazz Messengers even if the muted trumpet of Graham Hardy on opener ‘Administrate This!’ seems to dig back further stylistically to Rex Stewart or Buck Clayton. There are a dozen tunes, mostly written and arranged by Edis, and it’s pretty orderly modern mainstream stuff: exuberantly brassy on ‘Re: Vamp’, with Edis dismantling his chords behind the plaintive trumpet melody, and drummer Adam Sinclair lending an air of solid authority as he does throughout. Edis can sound like a disciple of Herbie Hancock or Horace Silver at times and favours accessible licks and funky solo lines but perhaps the easy going tempi make the tunes just too digestible. The funky turns and twists on ‘Sharp 9/8’, though, exhibit plenty of spirit and it’s likeable enough fare by a promising pianist. SG