Other Worlds is the third release by the Sound Prints quintet – the A-list postbop ensemble co-led by Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas. This time there are no covers of their inspiration Wayne Shorter's music, all the tracks being composed by Lovano and Douglas – and almost all being first takes, following the group's week-long run at New York's Village Vanguard only days before. Sound Prints' core strengths are the one-touch improv empathy between the two leaders, and an uncanny group consciousness that suggests unflagging ensemble spontaneity despite the closely-written intricacy of some of these pieces. Lovano's ‘Space Exploration’, with its long-tone polyphonic opening from the horns, reflects its title in suggesting a dreamy drift past stars – until a deliciously camouflaged glide into swing sparks a Wayne-reminiscent tenor solo of wriggling runs and startled yelps from Lovano. Douglas' ‘Life on Earth’ opens to Joey Baron's soft tom-toms sound and then a staccato fanfare before trumpet, tenor, piano and bass breaks show how free of familiar phrasing all the soloists are; the opening harmonies of Douglas' ‘Manitou’ teasingly slip in and out of dissonance, while the briefly twisting two-horn opening to Lovano's ‘Sky Miles' sets off a Linda May Han Oh bass-walk for the saxophonist to float, slur, and gracefully skitter over.

Sound Prints' music may reference the classic free-collective innovations of Shorter, Ornette, and the mid-60s Miles quintet, but their audaciously sophisticated refinement of all that rich history makes them a truly contemporary jazz band.