It would be unfair to burden the young Cuban pianist with pressurising hyperbole but he has all the makings of a very significant new arrival in contemporary jazz, primarily because he sees its relationship with a host of other forms. If Virelles showed that he could improvise imaginatively when he appeared in Steve Coleman's Reflex Trio (with Marcus Gilmore, also featured here), in 2011 then his stunning 2012 debut Continuum revealed a composer interested in investigating his country's folklore to create a kind of audio ritual theatre. In fact, the subtitle of this new work is telling: Sacred Music For Piano, Two Basses, Drum Set And Biankomeko Abakua. The devotional aspect of Virelles' previous recording is still prominent here even though there is less poetry and recitation. His compositions are steeped in a sense of ceremony and invocation, yet the outcome is significantly different to the percussive music prevalent in religions such as Santeria. Virelles appreciates hush rather than thunder, taking volume as well as tempo down for much of his material which sets great store by the way chords drift across the pulse and linger like an aromatic haze into which swirl clouds of percussion and draughts of bass. Although there is a bold rhythmic current running through the arrangements it is mostly understated, with the beat sometimes whispered rather than exclaimed. The large gaps that the players open up in the canvas of the music is deeply affecting because of the subtle sensuality of what they do play. To a certain extent Virelles has taken some of the airy, hovering melodic character of Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage and distilled it further, placing more emphasis on the left hand as an exponent of theme rather than chords supporting theme, and the result is a sombre, often nocturnal, secretive narrative that avoids any cliché of latin music. Virelles' song structures are invariably non-linear but not lacking in developmental energy, and his harmonic probing, while not full of neat resolutions, makes for music that is highly charged and atmospheric, with an impressionistic if not cinematic quality well to the fore. This inventive and challenging album betrays a complex, inquisitive personality that, like many older African musicians, sees very little distinction between sound, text and image.