Though Laura Jurd has kept on raising the high bar she set all the way back on her Landing Ground debut as a 22-year-old in 2012, the variety of the Hampshire-born trumpeter/composer's work can still catch even her most attentive fans by surprise. To The Earth is her Dinosaur quartet's third album – and though their first two were divertingly different (Together,As One for its kaleidoscope of styles, Wonder Trail for a contemporary-jazz angle on 1980s synth-pop), this 41-minute set is not only packed with striking melodies, but will warm the hearts of the most confirmed jazzers in Jurd's audience without daunting the rest. Conor Chaplin's opening bass vamp and the radiantly dancing, Middle Eastern-inflected theme of the title track typifies the ingeniously crafted writing and borderline-telepathic ensemble improv operating all through the album. The sombre, ghostly ‘Slow Loris’ joins an animated high trumpet line, deep tenor horn harmony and Elliot Galvin's jaggedly Monkish piano improvisation, the jiggy, detour-rammed ‘Mosking’ and the impressionistic ‘Held By Water'are enriched by Corrie Dick's percussion imagination, the Ellingtonian Absinthe’ (a Billy Strayhorn theme, and the only cover) sets Jurd's early-New-Orleans growls against subtly sparing synth effects, while the closing episodes of the set fascinatingly explore variations on blues. To The Earth is a memorable meeting of eclectic contemporary musicianship and jazz's deepest roots.

Jazzwise spoke to Laura Jurd:

This album sounds at times almost classically jazzy, with its blues and Ellingtonian references, and a Billy Strayhorn cover. Why has your music gone this way in 2020?

It's out of my hands in many ways! I've always had disparate musical influences that contribute to who I am as an artist. At times some of these come to the foreground more than others. We've been playing small group jazz together from the very start and the inclination to put that on record slowly emerged in the last year or two.

The track ‘Mosking’, which you're releasing as a single, refers to the Norwegian piano trio Moskus. What's their appeal for you?

They have this fantastic ability as a three, to occupy very different sonic spaces as individuals, creating contrasting layers of sound that happen at the same time. Conjuring up this kind of world in the context of something as simple and familiar as a tune and a bass line is very exciting to my ears. Juxtaposing ideas and textural counterpoint – I want to go to that party!

Like Miles, you very inventively balance space and action as a soloist, springing phrasing off the band's groove. Is that partly a matter of trust in a group of improvisers?

Trust is immensely powerful – you can feel it in the air. To be completely ‘in the moment’ requires zero distractions. When improvising, that means having zero expectations and letting the music unfold itself. That's where the best music lives. Leaving space is always a tempting choice when you're playing with people who make that space feel great. Not playing becomes an action.

What made you choose Strayhorns ‘Absinthe’ as the only cover?

This tune knocked me out when I first heard it. The unison counter-melodies steal the show for me – typical Ellington magic. It occurred to me that we could make the piece our own, without taking it too far away from itself. To make this work, it was vital to capture Duke's essence in the piano playing, without replicating it. Elliot of course, nailed the brief – which I was actually incredibly fussy and specific about at the time!