There is something of an X-factor about Vincent Peirani's playing. He has such an individual conception that he manages to transcend his instrument, which for many is something of an acquired taste in jazz. But in Peirani's hands it is a taste that's worth acquiring. A fixture on the Paris jazz scene, most frequently with European jazz's man-of-the-moment, Émile Parisien, they have developed a remarkable bandstand rapport, which translates readily onto disc (for example, Parisien's recent Sfumato Live in Marciac). Here Peirani ventures onto textures as an aspect of his music. Yet, somehow along the way, the means by which this is achieved (the months of mixing to get the right sound) occasionally blurs its ends. At its best, on tracks such as ‘What Power Art Thou’ or the three section ‘Kashmir to Heaven’, his concept of trying to achieve “a new music, new direction, new identity” seems within an arm's length, but elsewhere there is a feeling of straining for effect. But there is enough going on here to suggest huge potential and, between them, Peirani and Parisien once again present firm evidence that exciting things are happening on the French jazz scene.