With his Art of Sound series, British pianist and composer John Law released a work-in-progress that chronicled a typically independent take on the new jazz he was hearing around him in the noughties. Now he’s reacting to the groove-driven rhythm-pattern musics of contemporary groups such as Phronesis, ideas sparked by Radiohead, and as always the classical music that filled this intriguingly creative lone wolf’s horizons until his 20s. The variously vaporous and rugged saxophonist Josh Arcoleo and double-bass virtuoso Yuri Goloubev play key roles in pieces that turn from softly glimmering electronics to fluid uptempo improvisations, child-song themes that become anthemic, time-juggling twisters that embrace punchy ostinatos (Lucky 13) and mind-boggling minimalism (Set Theory), and a meditatively hypnotic title track that departs on a sample from the Brahms Requiem. The title and several compositions were inspired by the strikingly accomplished poetry of Law’s teenage daughter Holly, featured in the album-notes, though not in the music.
