Mitchell: "More than happy"

"I'm more than happy because when you give this music to a great set of musicians you expect things to be taken somewhere else - the whole point is to be able to show what happens interpretively, what they can actually do with the material."

The "great set of musicians" includes the striking singer Eska Mtungwazi from Zimbabwe.

"The first band I joined, called Quit Sane, Eska joined too," says Mitchell, "She's about my age, and her background is a lot to do with the church, the gospel set-up - but she has such a variety of voices."

International band

Others in the group include French bassist Nico Gomez, German percussionist Volker Str�ter and Cuban violinist Omar Puente - as well as the remarkable homegrown drummer Richard Spaven.

"Having such an international band was an accident - but a very nice accident - it's down to finding who wants to put in the time, who has the hunger you want.

"It's not easy to be the bandleader but you have to keep on - it's very easy with the amount of technology now not to have a band, to hear the music played electronically and just dream about how it would sound with a group.

"But I don't have to dream any more, it's very much there, I'm watching this develop for real."

Mitchell's mentors include Rachmaninov - "Beyond the music, he was a composer, a conductor, a pianist all at the highest level, and they're often roles that jazz musicians play simultaneously" - and the great jazz pianists.

"Oscar Peterson, Cecil Taylor and McCoy Tyner are all constantly inspiring," he says.

He has also had the benefit of the enterprising independent jazz label Dune Records, started by north London bassist Gary Crosby and his partner Janine Irons.

"They give me a combination of freedom and support - a feeling of being part of something which is building into something very exciting.

'Risks'

"The problem of a deal with a major label is keeping that number of people happy - especially as times have changed.

"There used to be people who took risks to sign artists and reveal a lot of very important music to the world - it would be interesting to see what they would be doing if they were around today."

There is already a buzz about Mitchell in jazz circles, but he now hopes that the new record will start to establish him with a wider public: "I am planning a tour and we hope this CD will broaden the opportunities and platforms."

Some listeners are bound to ask the old question: Is it jazz?

Mitchell would say it is, but he is not too bothered about that question: what is sure is that this is fascinating new music for the 21st century.

Voyager by Robert Mitchell's Panacea is released on Dune Records