We know Kozlov from his many tours with the Mingus Big Band and Royston has been around a while but Gillece and Hirahara are less familiar. Turns out New Jersey-born vibist Gillece has recorded quite widely – this is his fifth album for Posi-Tone – and been active on the New York scene since 2006. A DownBeat Rising Star in 2018, he tours and teaches and on this evidence is quite something. He says he's influenced by Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson, this doubtless evident on ‘Extraction’ which opens, one of seven pieces by him, a fast-travelling, ‘harmonically modal’ blues, with Kozlov and Royston powering the whole thing superbly. ‘Rattles’ does just that, moving from a bell-chime shape into a rumbustious free-for-all while the title track also accelerates, Kozlov superb and Hirahara similarly impressive. An experienced recording artist himself, Hirahara stretches out on the elegant ‘Blue Sojourn’, performed as a duo with Gillece.

Kozlov's ‘Outnumbered’ has a different feel, his electric bass combining with Hirahara's keys in a rhythmically turbulent line. The pianist's ‘Event Horizon’ offers yet more contrast and is a prettier thing, with Royston out and Glover added, its changes and theme prompting vibrant responses from the talented Glover and Gillece himself. There's nothing routine on the album, more a level of invention and enterprise in both playing and execution that calls for attention. Look out for Gillece and his chums – they're really worth it.