Martin Speake’s Constellation

It's been five years since UK saxophonist Martin Speake graced a Dublin stage in a stellar quartet with Bobo Stenson and Paul Motion, and now he returns with Constellations, his inventive take on the repertoire of Charlie Parker, on this his 50th anniversary.

Speake's particularly lucid style may be indebted to The Cool School, but here his muse is bebop and the lexicon of tunes performed by Bird. Chasin' the Bird, Donna Lee, Koko and oddities like Sly Mongoose, recorded only once by Parker for radio, are all imaginatively recast with new rhythmic and harmonic nuance.

Less a slavish recreation, more a personal homage, this most creative of European musicians is joined by Joe O'Callaghan (gtr), Ronan Guilfoyle (bass) and Sean Carpio (drums).