One Is the Other

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 group's reach - already broad on 2011's 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 music's 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 set's sole standard, a beautifully played version of "Some Enchanted Evening." Recorded in New York in 2013, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Mark Turner tenor saxophone
Ethan Iverson piano
Ben Street double bass
Billy Hart drums