The ability of jazz musicians to step unrehearsed into a situation and make it their own is sometimes staggering. Such was the case in Nottingham, when saxophonist Dave O'Higgins was asked at the last minute to take ex-Loose Tube Mark Lockheart's place in the acoustic fusion quartet Curious Paradise. O'Higgins had 15 minutes to meet the band and glance at the sheet music. He then proceeded to wail through the pieces as if they were his own.

Curious Paradise is the new name for the New Noakes Acoustic, whose music bears more than a passing similarity to Mark Lockheart's other pet project, the Perfect House-Plants. Rooted as much in pastoral folk as funky fusion, their tunes are well-crafted odes to the English countryside and its climate.

A dominant sound is band leader Pete Oxley's electric guitar. Many of his solos call to mind vintage Tony Banks keyboard lines, and indeed the prog-rock references don't end there; one piece has a piano refrain that is pure Tubular Bells.

Armed with bells, gongs and cymbals, drummer Russ Morgan proves himself both a sensitive accompanist and a propulsive lead-taker. Richard Fairhurst, meanwhile, has decided to forgo the knotty experimentation of his own band, Hungry Ants, to provide some sumptuous piano work.

The pieces gambol and frolic appealingly, there are no minor chords and all is sunny and light. This is a little strange given that tunes like English Elements and Through the Mist are supposed to be about the weather. Is there no room for the odd storm or two?