On Lost Ships, guitarist Rob Luft makes his ECM debut and vocalist Elina Duni presents a new ensemble – and the result just happens to be a minor classic. On the strength of this album, Luft, a BBC New Generation Artist and an impressive soloist in ‘jazzy’ jazz ensembles – whether it be honouring Monk and Coltrane with saxophonist Dave O'Higgins or in Byron Wallen's Four Corners – seems to have been put on earth to work in tandem with Duni. Implicit in working with such an exceptional talent is subtlety in both technique and conception, of doing the right thing at precisely the right moment, to enable her talent to blossom. The bar is set high, and Luft responds in a way that none of his previous recordings suggest. In jazz and improvised music of the 21st century, a high level of instrumental proficiency is a given. The challenge, therefore, is not being able to play the fastest, the highest, the most technically brilliant because most musicians today are standing in a line to do exactly that; it is the ability to create an effective context in which to focus their talent. This new ensemble with Duni and Luft has done just that, whether it be exploring musical influences from the Mediterranean, French chanson, jazz ballads or American folk, Duni and Luft have created their own unique sound, and as a result they both seem to have grown as artists.