The questionable moral sub-text of the title, sadly all too relevant to an age in which those of a lesser social and financial status can burn to death in tall towers, plays out powerfully on this follow-up to 2016's Into The Silence. Predominantly down tempo and in sultry, if not fraught, minor keys, the music is a gracious, deeply affecting meditation that is foregrounded by Cohen's bold, intensely melodic performance, which upholds that long lineage of brass lyricists that includes the Littles, Wheelers and, latterly, Ron Miles. Impressively, the pace of the music always feels at leisure if not in slow motion, even when the ensemble moves briskly, because the quartet articulates each phrase with such clarity, reminding us along the way that nothing can be more effective than each player reprising a melody in turn so that the line is heard in a changing sonic space. Adding to that impact are the breakdowns in which a series of strong duos emerge from the quartet to highlight individualities within the ensemble. Nasheet Waits stands tall here, his ultra-precise, at times hiss'n'whisper snare rolls are like the wandering reverb on an impressionistic dub record that Tomasz Stańko hasn't yet got round to making. A blend of classical rigour and jazz flourish that is built on passion without loss of control, Cross My Palm is an excellent statement from an artist whose references to the endemic violence engulfing America – ‘Theme For Jimmy Greene’, whose daughter was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, or the more ambiguous ‘Shoot Me In The Leg’ – give those minded to think much food for thought.