Various - Gourmet Jazz - Jazzwise

Linn Records have raided their jazz back catalogue to produce Gourmet Jazz, a 16-track feast of songs and instrumentals in equal measure. Spanning three decades, the material ranges from the pastoral minimalism of Perfect Houseplantrs (Holding Back from the excellent "New Folk Songs") to the inimitable fiddle stylings of the feted Stephane Grappelli (I Thought About You), surely the only man to have walked the earth who has recorded with both Oscar Peterson and Pink Floyd. Instrumental highlights include an effervescent Giant Steps from Clark Tracey, the big band blast of As Time Goes By from Ray Gelato Giants, the intriguing gumbo of Hop Skip from the Haftor Medboe Group and the elegant finger picking of Martin Taylor's Chillin' With Oscar. There are classic song interpretations aplenty, notably Claire Martin's inventive and harmonically daring take on the Judy Garland favourite Get Happy and Barb Jungr's reworking of I'll Be Your Baby Tonight from her Dylan homage.