The pianist-composer Kristjan Randalu is one of the better-known contemporary jazz ambassadors from the small yet open-minded jazz scene in the charming Baltic state of Estonia. He recorded the excellent Absence for ECM in 2018 in trio with Ben Monder (who contributes a jazz-rock inspired solo as guest here) as well as more recently with Dave Liebman.

The maturity in Randalu's writing belies the fact that the new recording Sisu is his very first in charge of a large jazz ensemble. Both originals and Estonian songs are filled with evocative melodies and well-schooled, smartly nuanced contemporary arrangements that occasionally employ experimental meter-switching and cross-rhythm devices. He's an engaging soloist with a Chick Corea-like tonal clarity and pin-sharp percussive phrasing. Whether building tension with brass-led prog-fusion, Stravinsky angularities and more post-minimalist/math-rock areas of New Music, echoing Django Bates with his dancy folk-rooted kind of jazz, or in a more haunting, melancholic Euro chamber-jazz setting, Randalu creates a cohesive, eloquent dialogue between large ensemble composition and solo improvisation.