Liebman and Beirach's musical association dates back to the 1970s and the band Quest, which provided the perfect vehicle for their combined talents, especially when Ron McLure and Billy Hart joined the band in 1986, an association that continued until 1991, when both saxophonist and pianist became active in jazz education – Liebman as a worldwide ambassador and Beirach in academe in Germany. This meeting effortlessly rekindles their mutual musical rapport, perhaps unusually turning to the classical repertoire, from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Faure, Khatchaturian, Scriabin, Bartók and through to Schoenberg on CD1, while CD2 explores Bartók's ‘String Quartets’ from one through to six. To bring these compositions into the forum of jazz and realise their potential for improvisation demands a thorough knowledge and understanding of the source material and the sheer musicianship involved in their performance alone warrants the star rating. Yet both musicians add so much, creating a powerful duality between the written and the improvised (where does one end and other continue) that this album stands as an absorbing detour in the careers of two under-sung jazz greats.