How much more ECM can you get? Not only is bassist/composer Michael Formanek an ECM artist but so are altoist Tim Berne and pianist Craig Taborn too. All Manfred Eicher needs to do is sign up drummer Gerald Cleaver to lead a session and that will make a full house. Musically – sonically-this is a thoroughly ECM affair too:atmospherically rich, darkly pure, in love with the details. One bright spark said of Formanek's acclaimed last outing, The Rub and Spare Change (2010), ‘This type of listening experience, dense yet luminiferous, treads the tightrope between cerebral and streetwise in a damn cool way’, and that just about sums up Small Places – a title referring to those beloved ECM-ish nooks and crannies – too. The quartet has a wonderful way of wrong-footing a rhythm or melody. They have a great knack for off-kilter placements and emphases that keep proceedings tautly in tension while flowing on smoothly: try to fascinating up-and-down subversion of the title track. There are some lengthy excursions here (‘Parting Ways’ and ‘Seeds and Birdman’ run to over 30 minutes between them) but the quality of the invention – urgently inquiring, never bombastic – keeps interest levels high.