WHEN Chorley, Lancashire-born tenor saxophonist Nat Birchall brought his septet, the Unity Ensemble, to the Cafe Oto in the teeming, cosmopolitan heart of Hackney, it was as if he had brought the ancient majesty and mystery of the Pennines in the beauty of his horn, so much is the rural north of England endemic to his sound.

With fellow Coltrane-loving veteran hornman Alan Skidmore supplementing pianist Adam Fairhall, thunderous drummer Paul Hession, bassist Michael Bardon and percussionists Mark Wastell and Lascelle Gordon, they played live the music on their serene, almost hymnal new album, New World, to hugely receptive London listeners.