Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Inspiration - album review

The accolades, the achievements and the quiz trivia are staggering. Not many debut album releases can boast the standing Inspiration does, or the people involved with it.

Sheku fought hard to become the first black winner of the BBC Young Musician award in 2016. He played at the BAFTA ceremony last year and impressed so much he has become the first ever artist asked to return this year to perform with his siblings.

He was asked to perform for Paul Smith's show at Paris Fashion Week. He starred at the BBC Proms. And he was all the while completing his A-levels in his hometown of Nottingham.

We could continue this in a similar vein and use up our wordcount without even discussing the music recorded here, such is the fascinating back story to this intriguing talent.

The album, as the title suggests, is the music that has led Sheku to where he is now.

From the classical reworking of Dmiti Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No.1 that propelled him to success on BBC Young Musician, to his love of Bob Marley leading him to cover No Woman, No Cry. This is a cross-section of influences and styles that will have classical fans whooping with joy.

And great for local music lovers, it was recorded with the help of our very own City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and its supremely talented leader Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla.

Okay, segments of Shostakovich may lose the more classical lite listeners tuning in, but if you can power through that there's a lot of interest to be had.

The two unashamedly happy pieces by Pablo Casals - Song Of The Birds and Sardana - paint a picture of a happy chappy writing his thoughts to music, and that same joy shines through in Sheku's carefree grin.

The No Woman No Cry cover makes the song sound much deeper and lonely than ever heard before, while the cello is the perfect instrument to do justice to Leonard Cohen's timeless Hallehlujah.

As mentioned, the dense middle section may be a tad too much for the less classically minded listeners, but what else is here will open the style up to the mainstream and has the potential to make it more accessible to those who dream.

Rating: 7/10