The 40-year-old Philadelphian contemporary jazz pianist and composer Matt Mitchell has earned a pedigree in recent years, recording with vanguardists such as Tim Berne and his Snakeoil band, John Hollenbeck’s The Claudia Quintet, and those of Darius Jones and Rudresh Mahanthappa. He’s previously led solo, duo and trio recordings but this is his quartet recorded over a pair of CDs. Mitchell employs a rigorous compositional approach balanced by a raw-edged free improv spirit that has echoes of the work of mentor Berne. Highlights include ‘The Damaged Centre’, a rollicking improvisatory tour de force that has Chris Speed’s sax spinning off drummer Dan Weiss’ thrillingly propulsive beats while Mitchell’s vigorous percussive piano stabs add punctuation. ‘Hyper Pathos’ is in contrast a softly skulking clarinet-led through- composed piece of a more delicate nature while ‘Select Your Existence’ is informed by contemporary classical chamber music albeit with a jazz workshop-like approach. Some of it will take your breath away.