After the 2007-11 trilogy of Diasporas, Diachronism and Diagnostic, in which electronics and state of the art production featured prominently, comes an acoustic quintet album with a very specific premise. It was a commission for a silent movie score whose dominant sound was inspired by the ‘bande originale’ that Miles Davis performed for Louis Malle's classic 1957 thriller Lift To The Scaffold. Melancholy and mystery pervade the mood of what is an unremittingly somber, at times fraught set. Maalouf has shown that he really understands what made his template so magical because he does not overplay or over-write at any point on the 12 pieces, many of which are sufficiently imagistic to evoke film scenes. When Clarence Penn's brushes create a kind of solicitous whisper around the bass and piano, the Malle-Milesian ghost blows in at its strongest, but these, moments of yearning sensuality also tap as much into Kind Of Blue as they do the aforementioned album. Maalouf also pushes away from his icon in two ways. Firstly, he pares structural material down even further, sometimes reducing Larry Grenadier's bass line to nothing other than two notes that act as a kind of blink of an eye that is given an indigo mist by Frank Woeste's liquid supporting chords. Secondly, when playing at high or low tempo, Maalouf easily slides into the vocal flutter of Arabic music beholden to his heritage, and the pert quartertones of his uniquely designed trumpet enhance the singing nature of his solos. With the peerless Mark Turner negotiating some slalom like unison lines as well as typically incisive improvisations, the overall quality of the playing is high. Adding to the broodiness is an undercurrent of latin sensuality that vaguely recalls a contemporary reference, Julien Lourau's 2002 album The Rise. The two sets make a fine double bill.