Sheffield based reedsman Beck has been a fixture on the UK improv scene for a quarter century, and graced countless recordings as a sideman and collaborator - but this is his first solo venture proper: 13 single take live-in-the-studio tracks that, in Beck's own words "explore the ever fascinating boundary between conventional harmonies and looser playing. Largely , that means spontaneous improvisations showcasing a confident mastery of extended tenor saxophone techniques and an inquisitive dedication to unravelling the possibilities of the bassoon. In Beck's hands, this normally quaint and sedate woodwind , rarely associated with improvisation, becomes by turns a vicious, snarling entitiy or a sonorous well of complex overtones. This CD includes a couple of ttunes by Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy, and the final track..... with its playful tinkering with ocarina, recorder, swanny and tin whistle also reveals the influence of Roland Kirk - but for the most part, this is the work of an underrated British original. - DANIEL SPICER, JAZZWISE

If you enjoy the no-nonsense blowing of Mick Beck, you could do worse than invest in Life Echoes (DISCUS 36CD), a solo record whereon he picks up said bassoon and his more familiar tenor sax for a collection of short and lively cuts. The intention is to explore the ever-fascinating boundary between conventional harmonies and looser playing; I’m not quite sure what this means, but I sense there are more concessions being made to allow inroads for the non-initiate. He does plenty of noisy sucking effects and squeaking honks which will please those of an avant bent, but the occasional breaks into melodic forms (some of them rather greyly melancholic in tone) may help decrease the alienation factor for those listeners who shrink from jazz or free music. Most cuts come in at three minutes or less; almost an attempt at a pop record (in the same way that Trane’s Giant Steps is a pop record). - SOUND PROJECTOR