An interesting case of somebody behind the scenes stepping forward to good effect. Stephen Buono has worked in jazz PR in America for many years but he is also a producer, songwriter and leader of Church Chords, an evolving project with a wide, eclectic range of contributors.

The musicians are drawn from far and wide, and include the percussionists John Herndon and Kenny Wollesen, keyboardist Jim Baker and multi-instrumentalist Ben Boye, who between them have played with the likes of Tortoise, Tom Waits and Bill Frisell. If that gives an indication of the jazz, electronica, rock and alto-pop sensibilities of the resulting creation, then of no less significance is the input of modern day guitar heroes Nels Cline, Jeff Parker and Brandon Seabrook, who all inject bracing experimental sounds as well as high-octane improv.

The music is impressive because of the coherence with which Buono has managed to stitch together numerous sessions that took place in Chicago and Los Angeles over several years and craft a signature that is often steeped in the dim-lit melancholy of progressive Brazilian music à la Arto Lindsay or Vinicius Cantuaria. The songs are mostly short and melodically rich, with occasionally rhapsodic vocals that are well served by the channeled aggression in the rhythm and the lush finesse of the soundscapes. Out of restrictive genre but well in the bracket of liberating originality.