Kuroda is a Japanese-born, NYC-based trumpeter with a questing spirit, seven head-turning studio albums and a reputation as an anything-goes creator given to genre-blending – everything from bebop, post-bop, neo-soul and electronica to hip hop, funk, Afrobeat – in ways complex, spacious and grooving.

This project on PPK, the label kickstarted by the illustrious triumverate of bassist Pino Palladino and producer/musicians Dave Passick and Joel Kipnis, is a testament to putting in the hard yards: shedding and experimenting, the getting up and getting on.

The everyday work ethic required to lay the bedrock for greatness, as evidenced by the excellent single ‘Car 16 15A’, a two-part ode to Japanese train-travel that bursts with upbeat effervescence before slowing, winding down, relaxing. A neo-soul excursion featuring vocalist FiJA, ‘Bad Bye’ sparkles with dance-friendly savoir-faire; Kuroda wields flugelhorn on album closer ‘Curiosity’, his melodies hummable, his lines complex but golden.

A crack band including drummer David Frazier and tenor saxophonist Craig Hill buoy Kuroda’s vision - and very likely share his dedication - but it’s the frontman’s easy lyricism and clever, out-there rhythms that linger.

A benchmark work, then, and inspiration for any aspiring jazzer tempted to skip their daily practice.