Although as their name suggests Sphere, were formed with more than a nod to Thelonious Monk, (Rouse and Riley having been long-term associates of the pianist); the refreshing aspect of this concert from the Rococo surroundings of Perugia’s Teatro Morlacci is the degree to which the band had developed its own sound.

This is no small part due to bassist Buster Williams who contributes three compositions, including the sprightly opening blues ‘Tokudo’. Barron’s long, fluent solo here is very much his own voice, and he interacts particularly well with Riley, whose accents, fills and flexibility on the ride cymbal are exemplary. The fragmentary theme of Barron’s ‘Saud’s Song’ recalls Monk, but once into the solos, Rouse gradually shifts away from the motif of the theme and creates a characteristically thoughtful solo.

This reissue is a treat in that two previously unreleased tracks have been unearthed, and one of them is Monk’s ‘Trinkle Tinkle’, although this quickly sets off in a different direction from the two celebrated recordings Monk made with Coltrane.

There are no ‘sheets of sound’ here, but Rouse’s reflective remodeling of the theme is creative and holds the attention, while Williams’ walking bass anchors the hard swinging rhythm section in what – for this piece – is a relaxed tempo. Williams’ ‘Decepticon’ features a lengthy outing for his bass, but is one of the weakest tracks on the album, as some slightly dubious intonation and the rather twangy tone he had with the amplifiers of the day, both work against it being up to the standard of the preceding tracks.

The high point of the album is a newly-discovered version of ‘If I Should Lose You’ with a lovely long solo from Rouse that explores the song and its changes without losing either the shape of the piece or a sense of its melodic content, and this ushers in a ravishing, rhapsodic solo from Barron that shows very much why this band had a unique voice, and why, given its few recordings, this album is important.