RAY COMISKEYreviews the jazz alobums of the week

HEINZ SAUER, MICHAEL WOLLNY, JOACHIM KÜHN

If (Blue) Then (Blue) ACT ****

Both Sauer and Kühn are iconic elder statesmen in German jazz, while Wollny, at 32, is a more recent arrival. So an album centred on Miles Davis's Kind of Blueand Ellingtoniamight seem a trip to the comfort zone. Not a bit of it. Sauer, on tenor, remains formidable, with an arrestingly malleable tone, abundant, cliché-free ideas and the judgment to use them to serve the music. His duets with these two exceptional, simpatico pianists (Kühn and Wollny are each on eight tracks) work superbly; 16 miniatures, filled with surprise, a sense of proportion and an astringent, lemony lyricism. The performances of All Blues, Flamenco Sketches, Blue in Greenand Sophisticated Ladyemerge as freshly minted as those of the Sauer, Kühn and Wollny originals. Sauer and Wollny are due to play in the John Field Room at the National Concert Hall, Dublin next week. See actmusic.com

ROBIN VERHEYEN

Starbound Pirouet ***

Fronting a fine quartet with Bill Carrothers (piano), Nicolas Thys (bass) and Dré Pallemaerts (drums), Belgian saxophonist/ composer Robin Verheyen is clearly already a distinctive voice. The repertoire includes nine demanding, often angular, yet sensual Verheyen originals written on tour days before the recording last year. So many new pieces, even with a band this good and on tour, is a big ask, and perhaps more time might have produced even finer results, but the challenge prodded the quartet into fresh, stimulating performances in which the their richly interactive approach is a joy. Verheyen, heard mostly on soprano, is almost as cliché- free as Dave Liebman, without venturing as far outside, while Carrothers (who has recorded with Thys and Pallemaerts before) responds brilliantly to the challenges posed by Verheyen and the material.

See pirouetrecords.com