The Andrew London Trio have been fairly frequent visitors to the Bay since their emergence from previous band, Hot Club Sandwich, in 2012.

In that time they've also recorded five albums, primarily focusing on Andrew's humorous satirical songs immortalising foibles and quirks of the Kiwi psyche and lifestyle.

From the very start, their live shows have included a bunch of songs from what we now call ‘The Great American Songbook' and their sixth album, which recently received an unofficial launch at the Omokoroa Boat Club, embraces that with a collection of snappy jazz tunes from the past 100 years - the oldest being 1919's I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate.

The most recent is Australian Billy Field's Bad Habits from 1981, and in between you get standards such as Sunny Side of The Street and Don't Fence Me In as well as 40s swing – Beyond The Sea, It's a Good Day – a little blues, some Western Swing and the odd delightful curio like I'll Be Your Friend With Pleasure, which I think has something to do with Bix Beiderbecke.

Horns

That last one is sung by sax and clarinet maestro Nils Olsen, who really excels throughout, proving himself an agile vocal stylist on several songs while digging into his deep knowledge of early jazz for a masterclass of horn and woodwind.

Also good to hear is a little more from bass player Kirsten London, who sings Why Don't You Do Right and three others with a Peggy Lee purity that gladdens the heart.

Andrew, of course, is right on point too, singing, playing slinky lead guitar, adding harmonies and anchoring everything. He has enlisted sympathetic support from drummer Lance Philip, while old mate Wayne Mason drops in for some very effective piano.

With a generous 16 songs on offer, this should please all mainstream jazz lovers. You can buy the CD from www.andrewlondon.co.nz and there are links there to Bandcamp, where it can be downloaded. Moving to the international stage, I've loved Paul Simon's music for more decades than I care to remember, but he must be a frustration for the accountants at his label.

I thought his last couple of albums were actually vaguely commercial, even if the singles never really landed, but the few before that – Songs From The Capeman, You're The One and Surprise – seemed to almost perversely avoid anything that might work as a single or get played on the radio.

Favourites

So it's hard not to smile at the carefully-worded sticker on the sleeve of his new album, In The Blue Light, which proclaims: 'Fresh perspectives on 10 of the artist's favourite songs.” Whose favourites?

The ten songs may indeed be Paul Simon's favourites, but with four from You're The One, and one each – not the well-known ones either – from six other solo albums, you should definitely file this under Labours Of Love.

But what a labour! With a seemingly limitless budget, Simon has enlisted modern chamber ensemble yMusic, guitarist Bill Frisell, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the National's Bryce Dessner, along with the likes of Steve Gadd (drums), John Patitucci (bass) and the Brazilian guitar-playing brothers Sergio and Odair Assad.

The result is dazzling - a subtle, wonderfully complex mixture of jazz and chamber music with frequent nods to world sounds.

Some songs have reworked lyrics, but many stay true to the original arrangements while swapping instruments and genres. Frantic strings replace percussion on Rhythm Of The Saints and Can't Run But, while Pigs Sheep and Wolves comes into sharper relief with the funk of Marsalis' New Orleans horns. There is beauty and delicacy in the music, while lyrical themes show the more philosophical Simon of Love and Questions For The Angels, as well as the wry humourist of Darling Lorraine.

In The Blue Light is an epic in ten songs - a grand, extravagant folly that puts art before commerce in every way and could only have been made by someone with the track record and status of Paul Simon. No one else would have been given the resources. Thanks Paul – it was worth it.