Jamil Sheriff - The Debt (2025)

Jamil Sheriff is a pivotal figure on the rich Northern jazz scene, both in his role as an educator at Leeds Conservatoire and as a player, composer and bandleader.

This is the sixth release under his own name, and only the second where he eschews his preference for larger ensemble work in favour of the classic piano trio line-up. He’s got a unique and very recognisable voice both as composer and player: calmly meditative, melodic, always measured, but with a dark obliqueness in his harmonic sensibility and a flexible rhythmic feel that floats across the beat and leaves spaces in unexpected places. Dave Walsh and Sam Quintana match the leader’s feel perfectly, so that the pulse is always present but never overtly stated, drifting in and out of focus together to beguiling effect.

There are comparisons to be made with mid 1970s Jarrett, but Sheriff is very much his own man - understated, with an evenness of touch that makes this music initially unobtrusive, each listen reveals greater depth of expression and originality. This is an album to return to again and again.