ONE of the rising stars of the UK jazz scene will headline new Carlisle venue The Old Fire Station on October 22.

Over the course of five albums, Manchester-based trumpeter, composer, arranger and band-leader Matthew Halsall has carved out a niche for himself on the UK music scene.

His languid, soulful music has won friends from Jamie Cullum and Gilles Peterson to Jazz FM and Mojo as well as an ever-growing international following.

His new album ‘Into Forever’, puts the spotlight on Halsall the composer, arranger and producer.

Halsall draws on a diverse range of influences from Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, Phil Cohran and Leon Thomas to the more contemporary sounds of The Cinematic Orchestra, Max Richter and Nils Frahm to deliver his most complete recording to date.

Said Halsall: “I love being a musician, love playing, but for me every note has to serve the music I hear in my head and as I composed the music that became this album, I found that the voices that best expressed my intentions were those of my friends and colleagues in The Gondwana Orchestra.

“I consider this my most personal record to date as though there are less solos within the compositions, this allows you to hear a lot more of my voice through all the instruments.

“It’s also the first time I’ve collaborated with vocalists, which is something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Indeed, while Halsall’s last album ‘When The World Was One’ was very much about The Gondwana Orchestra exploring the legacy of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, this album follows on from Matthew’s 2013 meditative masterpiece ‘Fletcher Moss Park’, which found him developing a unique fusion of spiritual jazz and Eastern influences to deliver a deeply personal statement.

The catalyst for ‘Into Forever’ came when Halsall met Manchester based soul poet Josephine Oniyama when they collaborated on a new composition for the Manchester based, BBC Radio 3 show, The Verb.

For Halsall something just clicked. “I had wanted to work with singers for a while, but nothing quite felt right, but with Josephine and then Bryony I am delighted to have found two astoundingly talented young Manchester artists whose vocals, lyrics and melodic ideas really fit with how I hear music.”