As a follow-up to last year’s absolutely brilliant Active Imagination release on 22a, London composer, trumpeter, and member of the Ruby Rushton quartet, Nick Walters returns with superb new recording, titled Implicate Order, featuring his expansive 11-piece group The Paradox Ensemble.

This five-track recording covers a lot of ground musically, blending together spiritual jazz grooves and Eastern-influenced melodies with layered horns, West African rhythms, and a fusion of electronics. The record also features contributions by fellow Ruby Rushton members Aidan Shepherd on keys and accordion(!!!), and Ed “Tenderlonious” Cawthorne on flute, tenor saxophone, and alto saxophone, as well as Rebecca Nash on piano, Sam Healey on alto saxophone, Ben Kelly on sousaphone, trombonist Richard Foote, guitarist Anton Hunter, bassist Paul Michael, percussionist Kodjovi Kush, and Jim Molyneux on drums alongside horns, keys, bass guitar, and percussion.

Even though Walters has had strong ties to Tenderlonious’ 22a label over the years, releasing his first two releases as a bandleader on that label, this recording marks the first release off his new independent label D.O.T. Records. According to a recent interview he did with Jazzwise, Walters decided to start his own label in which he could release both his own music and recordings of other artists he admires.

From start to finish, Implicate Order is a great new and exploratory release, that takes the listener on a number of different musical journeys, while still working well as one cohesive recording. Not that anyone should need convincing at this point, however this record is just further proof that Nick Walters is one of the most forward-thinking artists today in jazz.

Nick Walters & The Paradox Ensemble — ‘Implicate Order’
(D.O.T. Records)

1. The Underdog
2. Volta Region
3. Be Seeing You
4. Diminishing Returns
5. Implicate Order

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