Babelfish is one of the most rewarding and creatively fecund modern jazz quartets about. Fired by the notion that music can be inspired and invigorated by other mediums including, most notably, poetry and literature, this collaborative project from Italian singer-songwriter Brigitte Beraha and pianist Barry Green brings an easy intellectualism and playful spirituality to 10 tracks that draw inspiration from, and pay homage to, books by authors including Paul Auster – whose freeform aesthetic dovetails neatly with that of jazz – and Iris Murdoch. “Nature is death/death is life/quickly overshadowed by impermanence,” sings Beraha with subtle precision on ‘The Sea, the Sea’, on which double-bass and piano ebb and flow and Clarvis's drums crash and hiss like a shoreline. The cyclical nature of existence is what is being explored here, whether on the classical ‘Dido's Lament’ by Henry Purcell, one of two non-original tracks, or the Green-penned ‘The Inspector and the Collector’ – in which Beraha's soaring, wordless vocalese dialogues with instrumental phrases to evocative effect. It is no wonder, really, why this album, the quartet's third, feels so consummate: Beraha is a professor of jazz vocals at several London universities, while Green is a professor of jazz piano at Guildhall. Laurence and Clarvis, A-listers both, continue to work with the greats. Combined, it's the originality of their oeuvre, and the beauty with which it's imbued, that make this a must.