The Californian Arthur Gottschalk (b1952) – no relation, I think, to Louis Moreau Gottschalk – studied with Ross Lee Finney and William Bolcom, among others, and currently teaches composition at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He has an impressive catalogue of orchestral, chamber, film and TV music to his credit. The five pieces collected here are written in a modern tonal idiom, eclectic in style ranging from jazz, classical and – as the minimal music notes accompanying the disc online aver – ‘traditional Jewish hymns to Frank Zappa’.

There is a tangible sense of fun running through much of the music, whether the bracing trio for clarinet, tenor sax and piano Benny, Zoot and Teddy (play Richard and Lorenz) of 2012 – named from, presumably, Benny Goodman, Zoot Sims and (I’m guessing here) Teddy Wilson – or the darker Bass Clarinet Sonata (2009), with its quirky movement titles: ‘Overture Salt Peanuts Memorial Barbeque’, ‘Motet – Ancient Incantations’ and ‘Green Dolphy Street Boogie’. By contrast, the Alto Saxophone Sonata (2007) has a decidedly French aspect to it which reminded me a little of Jean Françaix, not least in the central Waltz Nocturne.

The performances are deliciously virtuoso and full of life, not least the duets for tenor sax and bass clarinet Oh, More or Less (2011) and Shalom (2015 – with the addition of a choir to slightly Ivesian effect). Mario Ciaccio and Sauro Berti prove excitingly nimble-fingered and -tongued exponents, beautifully supported by Naomi Fujiya. Navona’s sound is close but very clear.