The latest from French-born, US-resident Pilc is unusual, to say the least. With 31 tracks in 68 minutes, some of them running less than 60 seconds, it's like a jazz response to the ‘Diabelli Variations’ or some such. The press release claims that every item is based on Cole Porter's ‘What Is This Thing Called Love’, although the link in some cases is tenuous to the point of invisibility. While both the track so titled (lasting 1’20”) and the closing ‘Now You Know What Love Is’ (6’35”) wear their heart on the sleeve, others such as ‘Duke’ (3’05”) and ‘Giant’ (1’16”) are steps in other directions, though mostly unobvious ones. An influence from French maestro Solal was evident even before ‘Martial’ (1’39”), which contains passing allusions to Mozart, Shearing, ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘La Marseillaise’. Some pieces sound merely exercises, yet some that seem potentially more involving are too short to make much impact. This thing could be called a tour de force of being and nothingness. Perhaps.