The New Orleansian Blanchard has been one of the notable soundtrack composers of the last two decades as well as a top drawer soloist and bandleader, so there should be no surprise if there is a ‘filmic’ afterglow to some of his work. That is often the case here, and in a manner not dissimilar to 2005’s Flow, the moody, shadowy ambience of the bulk of the material would not be out of place in the denouement of a thriller or tense political drama. Arrangement-wise, the net is cast wide though. There are liberal shifts between fluid, quite Ornetteish swing, in which Ron Carter shows that his imperious touch is as strong as ever, and more pared down, minimal grooves that hinge greatly on Lionel Loueke’s eye-ofthe-needle picking. Blanchard’s soloing retains its distinctive blend of subtlety and bluster, the latter quality enhanced by a Milesian distortion pedal that adds to the electric hiss and hum that is mostly instigated by Loueke. If one wanted to push the Davis references further down the road one could say that at times this set feels like a loose amalgamation of Bitches Brew and Ascenseur Pour L’échafaud, but the other influence that surfaces intermittently is that of early Pat Metheny. Perhaps the sequencing and editing doesn’t quite show the music off to its best advantage but overall this is to the high standard one expects from an artist of Blanchard’s calibre.