Guitarist Carl Michel delivers a tribute to the composing skills of legendary drummer Paul Motian on this 2013-14 recording. He joins together with Mick Dobday/p, Dan Kolton/b and Alex Trajano/dr, wisely trying not to emulate anything from the legendary Bill Evans days, as Michel’s guitar does some nice impressionistic work on “Mode VI” and soft acoustic strings on “Birdsong.” For his part, Trajano doesn’t try to impersonate the legend, doing some intricate brush work on “Abacus,” subtly bopping on “Circle Dance” and coaxing the ride cymbal on “India” while Dobday lurks on “Arabesque” and it patiently spaced on “It Should Have Happened a Long Time Ago.” Clever idea cleverly done.