For her third release on the ECM label, the Berlin-based pianist Julia Hülsmann shifts format from trio to quartet. The new addition is the former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, now Berlin-based English trumpeter and flugelhornist Tom Arthurs. Although still only in his early thirties, Arthurs looks to have blossomed into a more poised, discerning version of the fresh-faced mercurial, contemporary classical-jazz experimenter that emerged in London about a decade ago. His Kenny Wheeler-like vocalisations and leaps in register are more playful than brooding and work very well against the finely tuned understatements of the imaginative yet economical Hülsmann and her established rhythm section of bassist Marc Muellbauer and drummer Heinrich Köbberling. The writing is shared out between band members (there are just two non-originals by singer-songwriter Feist and heralded Spanish composer Manuel de Falla) and the ghostly melodic themes and vamps build a lot of shape and structure into the sections for improvisation. Although the recording belongs essentially to the enigmatic, contemplative school of European jazz linked to Manfred Eicher's label, there are episodes of sharp rhythmic intensity too especially from the restlessly lyrical Arthurs, and the warm chemistry of the ensemble play is one of its most engaging characteristics.