David Virelles, Mbókò, ECM

From 2014. Innovative, considered, with a poise to it, a gorgeous plangent mobile tonality derived from Cuban folkloric forms and the Coltranian musical language, the Threadgillian here with two bassists, fellow Stańko New York Quartet member bassist Thomas Morgan and ex-Branford Marsalis bassist Bob Hurst, Vijay Iyer drummer Marcus Gilmore and the pianist’s fellow Cuban percussionist/vocalist Román Díaz. The drums are centrestage, a titanic presence and symbol at the album’s heart. The brilliant pianist, who has formidable ears and effortless-sounding advanced technique, writes for Díaz within the overarching tradition of the Abakuá culture, a tradition that stretches far back to Africa and the Cross River region of Nigeria. Very much a state-of-the-art approach from a compositional point of view as well as performance, melting the past into a vision of the future

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From 2013. Soft, so soft, this is an album of lullabies, the debut of South Korean singer Yeahwon Shin on ECM joined here by former Terence Blanchard pianist Aaron Parks and accordionist Rob Curto. “Dedicated to mothers and children everywhere” Lua ya is full of pretty, naturalistic melodies and quiet diversions, mood pieces quite discernibly all, some written by Shin with Parks and one with all three performers sharing the writing credits. On ‘Island Child’ Shin manages to conjure a touch of melancholy, and there is a sadness at the heart of some of these often eerily calm pieces. ‘Mysteries’ opens the sound up, Shin, almost Kate Bush-like in her intensity. Slow and gentle, and occasionally folk-like, in a traditional South Korean sense on ‘The Moonwatcher and the Child’, Lua ya is a pure-toned surprise and the album scores particularly in the first half dozen of the 13 tunes here. There may only be tiny intimations of a jazz method, mostly provided by little hints and nudges from Parks, but it’s mostly beyond-genre late night listening for any age.

David Virelles, Mbókò, ECM

Yeahwon Shin, Lua ya, ECM