This is a very together CD. There is an ease and confidence of conception, which lifts this album out of the run of ‘very good albums’ into something special. In 2003, Tuomarila was signed by Warner Bros. with this very group (with the exception of the bassist replaced here by Gilian) and their debut album 02 caused quite a stir in European jazz circles (their work has been transcribed for study by many European jazz students). Then Warner shrunk their jazz department, and the band went their separate ways. They reformed last year at the suggestion of Edition label boss Dave Stapleton and the result is less a continuation of what had gone before, more a new beginning based on their accumulated life experiences during the intervening 10 years. For example, Tuomarila has toured and recorded with Polish jazz legend Tomasz Stanko, Verbruggen has developed into one of the finest young drummers in Europe and is a member of the Flat Earth Society (Belgium's leading jazz ensemble) while Kummert has appeared on some 30-plus CDs in a variety of styles and is a leading voice on the Belgian jazz scene. Tuomarila, a Finnish native, is the band's leading voice, a perfect example of jazz glocalisation whereby he has studied the leading American global jazz stars (Jarrett, Corea, Hancock etc) but has ‘localised’ – or Scandinavia-i-fied – their sounds into something very personal and unique. The themes the band use all have a haunting melancholy lurking beneath their surface, but it is what the ensemble actually do with them that makes this album so fascinating. Kummert's saxophone ‘voice’ mercifully does not obediently follow in the footsteps of a Coltrane or Rollins but has an affecting lyricism that fits perfectly the group conception. Tuomarila has shed his playing of cliché, and is more concerned with how each melody can be developed and explored. He has a storyteller's ability that makes each note sound important. Jazz students should catch this album, since there are very few CDs today that concern themselves with melodic development and it is this sense of musical integrity that makes this album stand apart.