Harvie Swartz – now known as Harvie S – is an eloquent bassist with impeccable intonation who contributes four well conceived compositions to Smart Moves. They come embedded in an overall group conception – not simple vehicles for a blowing fest, but structures that demanded empathy in their interpretation, a less-is-more awareness of contributing to a distinctive group sound. It’s less standing up and blowing for a few choruses but more finding a voice within the composition where improvisation serves to enhance both mood and colour of the composition at hand.

Swartz covers a wide emotional palette here, from the classy contemporaneity of the opener and title track, to the ballad ‘Looking Back’, to the Latin-esque ‘Mexico’ where he effortlessly moves between solo and accompaniment. A trio version (Stern, Swartz, Lewis) of Coltrane’s ‘Equinox’ showcases Stern who displays a degree of effortless virtuosity that demands instant replay – this is a “What?!” moment. Not overt chopsmanship, but subtle mastery of his craft that will come as a revelation for anyone familiar with his work with Miles Davis (1981-3), where Davis wanted a Jimi Hendrix freakout every night, which earned Stern a degree of critical opprobrium. While with Davis he was also heavily into drugs, but by the time of this recording he had rehabbed and with Swartz he displayed a high degree of technical accomplishment and harmonic sophistication that is perfectly showcased on the two trio presentations, the second the Rodgers and Hart standard ‘My Romance.’ Yet he also contributes excellent, less-is-more accompaniment in ensemble, not least ‘Secret Schuffle’, with its simple, yet well executed intro and a well written melody which captures the mood of accomplished contemporaneity of Swartz’s ensemble, Urban Earth (named after their debut album on Gramavision from 1985 which served notice of Stern’s accomplished jazz chops). Smart Moves works well as an overall album experience, each composition contributing a story within the overall narrative arc: it has a beginning, a middle and an end. It’s a timeless concept that creates an album which demands you return to it time and again.