Barron is a remarkable survivor, the kind of flawlessly, gracefully, and joyously musical improviser who couldn’t sound dated even if he devoted his life to playing variations on ‘St Louis Blues’. Hard-bop, and a little slinky samba-playing and cannily-reworked Monk steer his choices here... Concentric Circles doesn’t exactly change jazz, but it indispensably cherishes it.

Cohesion and subtlety are basic to Concentric Circles, moments of particular beauty emerging from its stream of high-minded, yet gratifyingly grounded, play. Barron employs tunefulness, fine touch and implacable swing smartly, with ease and variety, based on his decades of experience. Every track is exemplary.