All Our ReasonsECM ****

Though legendary drummer Billy Hart's name appears at the top of the bill, his quartet is more democratic than most "name" bands. The group were originally brought together in 2003 by pianist Ethan Iverson and saxophonist Mark Turner, with Ben Street on bass. The chemistry was immediately apparent and the four have been gathering more or less annually since then. Iverson, better known as one-third of bombastic piano trio The Bad Plus, shows a gentler side of his nature in this company, while Turner proves that he is one of the most inventive and least egotistical of the current crop of horn players. Hart himself is in fine, expansive form, full of subtle colorations and little that you could call an actual pulse, while Street's bass provides the fulcrum for an open, free-flowing set of original compositions that, while obliquely referencing Coltrane, Rollins and Paul Bley, sound entirely fresh and of their time. ecmrecords.com