Playground Music Estonia is the label on which JT Conception have released their latest album How Far Can you Go? This also tells us where this insider tip for big-playing jazz-funk comes from: Estonia. And it also proves that the northernmost of the Baltic states is not only good for classical music by Arvo Pärt and Urmas Sisask, but also for other sophisticated music.

JT stands for Janno Trump, the bassist, composer and bandleader of the ten-piece jazz orchestra, which has been performing its mixture of jazz, funk, rock and world music since 2015 - with How Far Can You Go? definitely veering towards big band jazz. This may also be due to the instrumentation: Bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, percussion, plus two trumpets and one trombone, tenor and baritone saxophone each. A lot of brass makes a lot of classical-sounding noises.

How far the current album actually goes is quickly outlined: The nine pieces join the phalanx of great musicians at a high level. JT Conception interprets the compositions with joy, vigour and sensitivity, with echoes of Wheather Report, Passport and Marcus Miller. There is a groovy flow throughout and little humorous touches such as the choir singing in the title track.

Acoustically, How Far Can You Go? is also a stunner. The variety of instruments is transparent across all phases, the bass is full-bodied, the wind instruments crisp and powerful, the keyboard full-bodied where necessary. Only the drums are strangely narrow-chested in the background, but nevertheless remain powerful and extremely song-orientated. This makes the answer to How Far Can You Go? very easy: Far! (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Janno Trump, bass guitar, composition
Madis Muul, keyboards
Pent Järve, guitar
Dmitri Nikolajevski, drums
Caspar Salo, percussion
Danel Aljo, tenor saxophone
Keio Vutt, baritone saxophone
Allan Järve, trumpet
Jason Hunter, trumpet
Johannes Kiik, trombone
Featuring:
Mathias Heise, harmonica