Various ArtistsBBC Jazz Awards 2008Review

It's always difficult to review something which, to be honest, encompasses just about every facet of contemporary British jazz. Despite John Fordham's brave (if slightly disingenuous) claim on the sleeve notes that this double CD, collecting all the nominees for this year's awards, gives a good cross-section of: ''unorthodox music making in Britain'', there's also some slavishly conservative fare on offer here. This is not in any way to decry such work. For every band like The Blessing, whose cheeky brand of rock jazz is represented here by their track, Cake Hole, there's Cleo Laine, John Dankworth or the already much-missed Humphrey Lyttleton. And every one of those is on fine form. But this is the paradox of jazz itself. The constant push and pull between old and new; tradition and iconoclasm.

On the iconoclastic front (mainly provided by Jazz On 3's wider brief of the Innovation Award)) you have the quasi-electronic squall of Evan Parker or the marvellous solo percussion and wind mash-up of Cory Mwamba's you just GET days like that (well you just DO). Best of all is the string-driven fever dream of Basquiat String's Forceful Beast from the ubiquitous F-Ire label. Every home should own a copy of this. Only with Fraud's Voodoo Teeth do you get the feeling that things might have got a little too silly.

At the traditional end of things we have the Coltrane-isms of Tony Kofi, the hard bop of Simon Spillett and the big band joy of Ray Gelato or Jazz Warriors Afropeans. And resting between are the willfully clever young turks like Gwilym Simcock. His chops are amazing (and his drummer, Martin France is stunning) but despite his ability to play with time signatures like toys, you can't help but feel his day is yet to come.

But best of all are the seasoned pros who manage to create genuine alchemy by using a wealth of experience (jazz being one of the places where it's really appreciated) to create beauty. Guy Barker's exemplary Amadeus Project deservedly yields two tracks here, but it's the disc one contribution, Queen Righteous, that is the real stunner. Spaceous, lingering and dripping with the melancholy of a very grey day; this is British jazz in its most homegrown guise. And when you put Norma Winstone, Stan Tracey and Bobby Wellins together the results are always going to be magical. My November Guest (from Amoroso... Only More So) is almost worth the price of admission alone.

So, something for everyone really, which might make for a rather patchy listen unless you really do like EVERY kind of Jazz. But John Fordham's right - it does indicate a jazz scene that's far from dying on its feet just yet. Amen to that...