A new individual peak of achievement from English pianist Richard Fairhurst on this dreamy piano trio album. Almost a decade since Fairhurst's very fine Duets (Basho, 2015) - that marked a collaboration between erstwhile Leicester scene jazzer Fairhurst and the late great John Taylor of Azimuth renown - this goes deep and marks a new phase in Fairhurst's approach.

Why, pray? Our hunch is that the key to the album's success is found on the title track 'Inside Out' itself. Because it has a pronounced freer, more improv-redolent, dimension to it. That's even when you think a certain off-kilter experimental outlook was also a factor as long ago as the Hungry Ants days. That was when Iain Ballamy (who turned 60 this year) in particular proved a paterfamilias-like mentor to the younger Fairhurst. And still here is the pianist's drummer, Tim Giles - now in his mid-forties - still connecting as if via ESP in a parapsychological rather than Shorterian one - all these years on. And that high wire act direction is partly why the album succeeds given such thinking that then becomes a catalyst into cracking the code for further artistic growth with other matching material gathered around it. A&R wise (self-curated?) the album is very considered. Fairhurst, 50 this year, made his name with a series of albums on Oliver Weindling's Babel label with the Hungry Ants beginning in the mid-1990s. And the pianist reunites once again with fellow Ant drummer Giles joined by Cornwall born bassist Dave Whitford (Satori).

Featuring Fairhurst originals and a brace of arrangements of Carla Bley pieces covering such material as Bley's 'Vashkar' first recorded by Carla's then husband Paul Bley on 1963 Savoy album Footloose! and interpreted a good deal since most notably on Marcin Wasilewski trio 2021 classic En Attendant, its inclusion matches other IO choices beautifully.

No - Godot doesn't pitch up on Inside Out - ''he?'' wouldn't, would he (she/it/they - Brian)? And didn't on the Wasilewski either. But to be perfectly frank the Wasilewski 3's is a greater version. Nevertheless, Fairhurst is a player whom you need to hear and Inside Out also has some of Giles' best work found on any of his numerous recordings. His suspense laden detonations at the beginning of 'Vashkar' are proof of a notable destination ahead.

Fairhurst, Whitford and Giles are at the 1000 Trades pub on Frederick Street in Birmingham on Friday