Alto saxophonist Martin Kershaw finds inspiration in many different musicians and art forms, from fellow altoists including Charlie Parker through Eduardo Paolozzi’s art, which fuelled his previous project, Hero As Riddle, and on to the very personal choice of writers who have stirred his muse here. As might be expected from music drawn from the works of Mervyn Peake, the Russian Formalists and Philip Larkin, it’s a stylistically varied collection, ranging from the quite challenging title track’s dense, nagging tumult and fuzzy guitar melody, to the more conventional jazz quartet settings of Slow Dying and the lovely Bereft. Kershaw restates his credentials as an imaginative writer and strong, individual soloist, with the closing Steeplechase, a groovy, cleverly displaced reworking of Parker’s bebop classic, also confirming his talent for unpredictable but engaging re-interpretation.