Corto Alto: Some Small Fortune

Corto Alto is the creation of Glaswegian trombonist, bassist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Liam Shortall. The youngest graduate from the Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland's undergraduate jazz course (which he started aged just 16), Shortall combines jazz, electronica, hip-hop and broken beat, producing both detailed studio creations and roaring live sets. The band name translates from Italian as "short.tall"; Shortall has Italian roots and was keen to present an attention-grabbing name for his work (a touch of the Fatboy Slim, maybe)? His first album Bad With Names (New Soil, 2023) saw him connecting with a wider audience keen to enjoy his mix of fidgety-tight rhythms and exuberant soloing.

Some Small Fortune (Ninja Tune, 2026) sees Shortall reunited with his regular collaborators, including virtuoso drummer Graham Costello, tenor saxophonists Mateusz Sobieski and Harry Weir, pianist Fergus McCreadie and trumpeter Johnny Woodham. This time Shortall has partnered with eight vocalists, each bringing a song or rap performance to add to the mix. With 15 tracks in just 42 minutes, this album is a rich and concentrated mix of excellent ideas and production, largely shorn of extended solos. (These will no doubt appear in live performances in the weeks and months to come.)

The album opens distinctively, as did Bad With Names, with a string quartet. Led by Seonaid Aitken and brimming with harmonic invention, the title track offers a moment of reflection before "Thief," the strings joined by a typically galloping broken beat track with drops aplenty. "April" sees French-Senegalese vocalist Anaiis adding a delightful lyric combining vulnerability with strength. Nigerian rapper Vector weighs in on "Go" with rapid fire wordplay over Costello's top-notch drum work. Scottish singer/songwriter Eriff joins for "Nothing," before Shortall himself (heavily filtered) performs on his own "Don't Listen."

British singer Oscar Jerome brings his "Prayed We Would," performed over a jumping 6/8 bass line and a neat McCreadie piano moment. American rapper Mick Jenkins brings a typically stylish take on "Whodis," giving Sobieski a brief outing on tenor sax before "Yuba" leaps into the space with two-in-a-bar bouncing beats. Glasgow's Terra Kin brings their gentle voice on "Omni," the lilting vocal sitting unsettlingly over rapid-fire chord changes—a highlight. BINA. performs "Something" almost solo over simple bass guitar riffs before Jacob Alon wraps up the album with "Noblehill," their voice sitting well over a slightly Beatle-ish string arrangement.  

This collection vividly shows Shortall's range of abilities over many styles and settings. If the performances are all short (nothing over four minutes), these are almost like tasters for what may be to come in live performance, where fewer vocals and more solos are to be expected. This album consolidates corto.alto as a genre-spanning creation that attracts attention well outside the jazz world.