Yorkshire-born horn virtuoso Dave Lee is a prominent member of the Michael Nyman Band, as well as having performed at various times for the RPO, LPO and ROH – he’s highly rated and in demand, let’s put it that way. Nominally, the material by his new trio ELF points in various directions: in part, it sounds as though it should fit snugly between E_L_B and EST in the jazz CDs, or perhaps nestle alongside ELP in the pomp section, or perhaps even shoulder ELO in the pop-rock racks. Though the overall feel, inevitably given the horn-flute-piano configuration, is pastoral-classical, at times all of these categorisations might fit, although eluding generic classifications would seem to be one of the group’s raisons d’être: ‘Nothing is out of bounds’ according to the liner notes. This disc opens in a distinctly folky vein with arrangements of traditional tunes such as ‘When the Boat Comes In’ and ‘Brigg Fair’, before crossing over into classical/musical theatre terrain with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantasia’, based on themes from Phantom Of The Opera and winding up more in obviously jazzy terrain with ‘Birdland’ and ‘Ornithology’. A version of ‘Birdland’ also turns up on Under The Influence, could even be a reissue, although I can find no acknowledgment of the fact on the disc itself. This engaging album, with a large and varied cast of contributors, runs the gamut from Pink Floyd’s ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ (with no guitar part!) to David Bowie’s ‘Life on Mars’ (with wonderfully vigorous electric violin from Steve Bentley-Klein) via Eric Satie, Arvo Pärt, Billy Strayhorn, Peter Maxwell Davies and Michael Nyman. It’s offered as a homage to Lee’s influences, but it could just as easily be seen as an extended advertisement for the adaptability of his instrument (and, of course, his own playing) – and very impressive it is too. The combination of vocalist Skye Edwards, from UK trip-hoppers Moorcheba, and tabla player Sirishkumar on a version of Ewan MacColl’s folk standard ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ ticks almost every genre box available simultaneously while defiantly avowing that this is music that won’t be pigeonholed.