These two intense live albums, recorded in August 2023 at Brooklyn’s Ornithology listening space, present two heavyweight left-field quartets playing an original repertoire with purpose and fire. Trumpeter Jason Palmer leads a piano-free band, equal-partners quartet The Fury has Lage Lund on guitar and saxophonist Mark Turner is common to both. Tracks are long – Palmer’s range from 11 to 21 minutes and The Fury’s are not far behind. But strong moods, focussed solos and detailed interplay maintain grip.

Palmer’s compositions range from the puckish ('It Very Well May Be So') and playful ('The Cross Over') to the stirring ('For the Freedom Fighters'). Each of his nine originals blends angular lines with nicely harmonised sustains, calls get oblique responses and there is a generous sprinkling of intertwining melodies and tricky unison lines. But the meat of the album is what happens in between, and here, shifting tempos, soloists in the zone and the sense of collective thrust sustain interest. Palmer’s spiky lines and melodic gift impress, his sense of purpose carries all before and saxophonist Turner dovetailing neatly, is a singular and experienced foil. Bassist Larry Grenadier and Marcus Gilmore on drums are equally potent as they move freely from counterpoint complexity to walking bass swing.

Turner’s light tone and edgy articulation are more to the fore on The Fury’s equally satisfying set. The album opens with the urgent swing of Myron Walden’s ‘Like a Flower Seeking the Sun’ and continues with the rich harmonies of the bittersweet ‘Of Our Time’. Lund’s dense guitar voicings suit Turner’s edge of harmony lines and fit the rhythmic construction of the saxophonist’s melodic ideas. Both leads are equally strong solo voices and their interplay is also a joy – check out ‘Jimbo’ for an example of that. And with the strength of Matt Brewer’s bass locked into the wizardry of Tyshawn Sorey’s drums, a dream-team rhythm section rounds out a supergroup set.

Put together, the two albums represent the prime of Brooklyn’s current left-field and bear witness to the continuing evolution of contemporary jazz.