On his 4th CD for Babel, Leicester born pianist/ keyboardist and composer Richard Fairhurst and his newly extended sextet explores a wide palette of contemporary music from Django Bates-inspired dreamscapes to 20th Century angular chamber music and free jazz through to echoes of 70s electronic era Herbie and miles all skilfully filtered through his unique vision of jazz for the 21st Century. Brilliantly balancing the resources of composition and improvisation, Richard's quirky lyricism and lush texturalk inventiveness has continued to mature since his last three well-received albums on Babel with his quartet the Hungry Ants, released between 1996 and 2001.

The Band was hand-picked for the occasion and includes the young lion Tim Giles and James Allsopp Richard has already received wide recognition for both his piano playing and his composition. He was a finalist at the Montreux Jazz Festival piano competition in 2000, runner up (in duo with Tim Giles) at the European Improvisors' competition in Poitiers in 1997 and in 1998 became only the second British Jazz pianist ever to be selected as a Steinway International artist. And now with Standing Tall BBC award victory originally commissioned by the Jerwood Foundation for the Cheltenham International Jazz Festival, Richard is about to make impressive waves on the contemporary UK jazz scene.