Nights on Earth is Mendoza’s eighth album as a leader, and this, together with Blauklang (ACT) from 2008, provide ample evidence that Mendoza is one of the foremost composers and arrangers in jazz. Able to turn his hand from the subtleties he created for singer Silje Neergaard’s A Thousand True Stories (which somehow feel under the radar of the jazz world in general) to the more equivocal Sinatra inspired Robbie Williams’ Swing When You’re Winning without so much as missing a stride, Mendoza is an artist at the top of his game. Nights On Earth weaves subtle textures and haunting melodies over Latin and Brazilian rhythms to create an album of mood music for the serious listener. By drawing on personnel long acquainted with his work (his collaborations with drummer Peter Erskine, for example, goes back to his college days in University of Southern California) he is able to produce an album of ensemble unity and cohesion. Even the Dutch Metropole Orchestra, who feature on five tracks, are well used to his methods since he is their musical director and chief conductor and has been associated with them for over six years. Vocalists Lorraine Perry and Luciana Souza are featured on ‘Gracias’ and ‘Ao Mar’ respectively, but this is essentially an instrumental album where melody and thoughtful textures are allowed to do their work.