The Berlin-based Eric Schaefer will be familiar to UK jazz listeners as the drummer with Michael Wollny's Trio, but can also be heard with other high quality piano trios such as those led by Joachim Kuhn and Carsten Daerr. He leads a contemporary electric jazz group Shredz whose exhilarating Bliss CD on the ACT label showcased Schaefer's considerable attributes as a composer too. The new album Kyoto Mon Amour though might as well have arrived from a parallel universe. It's an intimate, modestly unassertive and tranquil affair that focuses on Japanese folk traditions and features clarinettist Kazutoki Umezu and German-resident koto player Naoko Kikuchi, who also plays classical music with Ensemble Modern. It marks Schaefer's burgeoning commitment to Japanese as well as Asian culture in general over the last decade or so. He spent an inspirational three months in 2012 studying in the ancient city of Kyoto, hence the album title, which also references the atmospheric avant-garde French movie classic Hiroshima Mon Amour. John Eckhardt is the bassist in Schaefer's Shredz and, alongside Schaefer, provides a supportive role, that's full of jazz instincts. Occasionally guitarist Bill Frisell's world-jazz fusions come to mind on hearing this very graceful, understated recording.