Seeing is believing. Or is it? Is what we see real, or is there a worrying gap between perception and reality? Philosophers have been arguing about this for centuries. One thing is certain: optical illusions and hallucinations exist so, at least in those cases, our perceptions must lead us astray. In most everyday situations, though, what we see, hear and touch allows us to build reliable mental models of the world. We share those models with our friends and colleagues. The sun is bright, water is wet, it hurts if you hammer your thumb instead of the nail. A consistent picture emerges. All this convinces me that there is a reality out there, even if we don’t always see it clearly.

I have no idea if the Welsh pianist, Gwilym Simcock, would agree with that. His 2007 album of contemporary jazz has no words and the track titles have no obvious connection to the theme of perception that the album name suggests. So let’s not worry about that; let’s just listen to the music.

The first eight tracks are Simcock compositions, arranged for a trio or a sextet; the last two are jazz standards. All are given a contemporary jazz treatment – there are no excursions into other genres and absolutely no gimmicks. So why does this album feature here in this blog with its primary focus on prog rock and alternative styles? Well, Simcock does have his own distantly-related style and there’s no doubting his talent. But the clincher is his list of collaborators. Anyone who has connections with Chick Corea, Bill Bruford and Pat Metheny deserves a mention in these pages. His 2011 album, Good Days at Schloss Elmau, was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize that year, too.

If the eyes are prone to deceive, perhaps we should trust our ears instead.