Guitarist John Abercrombie continues to refine the chamber jazz approach he has developed in this excellent quartet in recent years, although bassist Thomas Morgan takes over from Marc Johnson on this occasion, alongside regulars Mark Feldman on violin and Joey Baron on drums. The title track by Rodgers and Hart is the only one of the eight tunes not written by Abercrombie, and even it receives a singular interpretation.

Some of the guitarist’s melodies feel almost like standard tunes, while others are more abstract. The players work in a distinctly conversational mode of intricate interplay, drawing not only on a characteristically ECM-like chamber jazz feel, but also on a shifting matrix of free improvisational techniques, post-bop structures and a kind of free swing approach, and often employ a combination of all of these in any given tune.

(ECM Records)