London-based young multi-instrumentalists Fred Thomas and Zac Gvirtzman (Gvirt for short), have collaborated in various other sonic dimensions (Fly Agaric, The Irreverents) but this is their first duo collaboration. It's an imaginatively off-centre take on standards, with pioneering drummer Paul Motian cited by the duo as the session's main influence. More specifically it's Motian's refreshing spin on standards in his trio of the 1980-90s and the series of five On Broadway CDs in the noughties that has served as the central impetus for Living Standards. Although it owes far less to the African American ‘swing’ tradition than Motian's music – however much of that might be by implication – it's no surprise there's a lot of thinking outside the box here. Whole or small fragments and hints of thematic material are intriguingly embedded into a collective dialogue rather than a more traditional context catering for individual soloists. Gvirt, who's a prolific composer and multi-media artist too is on piano (occasionally prepared) while Fred Thomas alternates between bass and drums. The guests are F-IRE Collective cellist Ben Davis, Outhouse bassist Johnny Brierley and the young vocalist Louisa Jones who brings her Madeleine Peyroux-ish retro tones to Cole Porter's ‘All of Me’, ‘I'll See You In My Dreams’ and ‘Solitude’. But Thomas and Gvirt always seem at their dreamily understated chamber-like best (on ‘Good Morning Heartache’ and ‘Just You Just Me’) when it's only the two of them. If you like the familiar made unfamiliar then this quirky little recording could be for you.