Billy Hart Quartet at Constellation

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...

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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.

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