Album: Makrokosmos Quartet, Round Midnight (HatArt)

Blending percussive pianos with melodic percussion, the Makrokosmos Quartet are perfectly placed to explore the interface of classical and jazz, as on this series of commissions exploring the influence of Thelonious Monk, the most inventive jazz composer of the last century.

The results range from the standard European 20th century "new music" sound of Guillermo Gregorio's "Construction in Four Parts" to the sublime radiance of Oliver Schneller's "Resonant Space", in which delicate piano chords and flourishes of vibes and glockenspiel glow with an intriguing luminescence, through which can be dimly discerned the ghostly structure of a Monkish melody.