Three tracks chosen for their calm atmosphere and clear, uncluttered sound – very much a late-night contemplative mood. Floating, shifting, melting sounds. Shilkloper’s horn conjures up great distances, the bass is in the foreground, and the violin gives a feeling of yearning, reaching further, reaching beyond. “Nostalghia” melts away, opening the way to the stark and simple, slightly echoey two drumbeats which are repeated throughout the second track. The violin comes in quite subdued, then the saxophone begins quite low, adding to the warmth of the sound. This track brings things closer to earth, or at least to a river, the Maros, the Mures, as it flows through Hungary and Romania. The vocal (a folksong from Transylvania) is spare and simple, restrained but emotive. Dresch’s saxophone pushes to the limits of the melody and beyond, and towards the end goes into the upper register, the high sounds which in Dresch’s music are like rippling water or the flight of birds. The track ends with breath sounds on the saxophone and then the drumbeats alone, giving way to the warmer, melodic sound of “Song from Moldva”, an instrumental track based on a folksong. The three reeds players weave around the melody, take flight, gently pause and resume, and come to a tranquil conclusion. My listening has taken me in a Central European direction quite often over the past year – including some Hungarian jazz (prompting the choice of two of the tracks here).