Product Review

The second ECM album by the Billy Hart Quartet is a major musical statement, and one of the outstanding jazz albums of the season. The groups reach already broad on 2011s widely-acclaimed All Our Reasons - is yet more expansive here. Strong compositions - by leader-drummer Hart, tenorist Mark Turner and pianist Ethan Iverson reflect upon a wide swathe of the musics history, and are distinguished by vivid and imaginative solos and wonderful interplay. A basic premise, that this should be a band in which the vastly-experienced Billy Hart gets to play everything he wants to play, has led to a sense of almost unlimited possibility for all participants. There is freedom and joy in this music, and tenderness, too, not least in the sets sole standard, a beautifully played version of Some Enchanted Evening. Recorded in New York in 2013, and produced by Manfred Eicher.