Just picked up a copy of the new album by Ian Shaw "Lifejacket" and found it to be an inspired set that breaks the mould of jazz singers who stick to the Great American Songbook. Some wonderful song sketches, met with a soulful, heartfelt delivery.

On it he meets other genres with songs of his childhood and youth spent in Wales as well as biographical bits about his life in London.

One wonders if this is a way forward for jazz singers - to build a repertoire of their own material once they have mastered the rudiments of the genre. In parts, this album is actually closer to the territory established by singer-songwriters.

Many in jazz have been plundering the likes of Drake, Mitchell and Radiohead for years - maybe now the tide has turned and some can push the envelope with their own stories. After all, the jazz musician will always have a certain oblique and humourous side that many others miss.