When DownBeat readers voted Artemis ‘Jazz Group of The Year’ twice running (in 2023 and 2024), their enthusiasms probably weren’t far from those of Blue Note president Don Was – that the all-female ensemble breathed ‘the rarefied air of bands whose whole is greater than the sum of its already sublime parts’. Changing Artemis lineups have consistently featured first-call soloists (for giants from Wayne Shorter to Maria Schneider and Esperanza Spalding) who have often been bandleaders in their own right - but though Artemis (currently a quintet) is a collective, the great Canada-born pianist/composer Renee Rosnes has been central to its rapid evolution.

Arboresque, the group’s third Blue Note release, features originals from each of the present members, plus arrangements of music by Shorter, Burt Bacharach, and former Jazz Messengers’ pianist Donald Brown. Brown’s ‘The Smile of the Snake’ is a classic Messengers vehicle from its catchy low-end piano vamp through Rosnes’ canny fills and startling exchanges with trumpeter Ingrid Jensen - the latter a rivetingly creative reminder of acoustic-era Miles with Herbie Hancock. Jensen’s ‘Sights Unseen’ opens in swaying short horn figures that unleash crisp improv from trumpet, tenor, and Rosnes’ Fender Rhodes, coaxed by Miller’s snappily invigorating drumming, Nicole Glover makes an exquisite tenor rhapsody out of her own dreamy ‘Petrichor’, and the serenely ethereal melody of Wayne Shorter’s ‘Footprints’ is ushered in by the group’s quietly intertwining intro. Another big highlight is Rosnes’ arrangement of ‘What The World Needs Now Is Love’, gently rekindling that ageless waltz in light, dancing piano variations, and streams of fresh ideas from Jensen, Glover, and bassist Ueda.