Gwilym Simcock: Good Days at Schloss Elmau – review

Gwilym Simcock is a stupendous improviser and a remarkable musician all round. He was a teenage classical piano prodigy when he discovered jazz and now, at 29, he has collected most of the British jazz awards going. But, left alone with a piano, he creates music which is neither jazz nor classical but simply itself. It's hard to ignore the expectations raised by labels, but it's worth the effort because there's so much to listen to in these eight pieces, especially the melodies buried inside his harmonies and the mercurial changes in mood and texture.