Sometimes I think contemporary quartets, from Kronos down, have lost faith in their tradition and medium. Gimmicks, guests and transcriptions appear de rigeur, despite the inexhaustible riches of the literature. This project, says producer Thomas C Moore, ‘meshed the traditional classical string quartet style with that of jazz, groove and impro- visation’. Fusions are fine if the synthesis adds something fresh to the constituent genres, but commonly the exciting ‘parent’ elements get filtered out.

I’d be happy to argue that the string quartet is the most finely-honed of musical units, its only serious rivals as perfectly-evolved music- making machines being the New Orleans front-line and the bop quintet. At its rarefied best it has a purity, beauty and efficiency that is almost terrifying, a bit like a shark. This music is like a cuddly toy from the oceanarium gift-shop. I don’t doubt the sincerity of anyone involved but I find the attitude towards jazz distinctly patronising, and think it unlikely fans of ‘groove and improvisation’ will be impressed either. The playing of both quartets, their articulation, tone production and interaction, is superb, but the music hardly ever warrants such fine musicianship.

The cello duet, Julie-O, and Mara’s Garden work best. Variations is amusing and entertaining. Because and Yearnin’ fall inoffensively on the ear. Milhaud’s Creation is OK, but one misses the jazz-influenced tonalities of the wind instruments in the original scoring. Whatever, it’s presented in splendid sound-quality.