Live at Birdland ECM*****

This unrehearsed, week-long New York gig saw done-to-death material given the kiss of life by four masters. The music they made, in its ability to touch emotions and its capacity for adventure, where much is implied and relatively little explicit, is arresting.

Two memorable ballads, Lover Manand I Fall in Love Too Easily, are song-like, superbly knit performances full of timeless beauty, burnished by gloriously original alto and piano from Konitz and Mehldau, by Haden's magisterial bass and subtle drum commentary by master colourist Motian. They do free thinking just as strikingly in the forensic dissection of Miles Davis's Solarand Sonny Rollins's Oleo, with liberties of line, rhythm and harmony married to mutual awareness, order and surprise. And they apply a supple swing to outside-the-box explorations of Lullaby of Birdlandand You Stepped Out of a Dream.

See player.ecmrecords.com/ live_at_birdland/music