A band comprising acoustic piano, two double-basses and two mostly quiet percussionists might seem a weird balance by the standards of most record labels, but at ECM it’s par for the course. On his ECM leadership debut, young expat Cuban pianist David Virelles continues to reveal new facets of the talent and intelligence that have already endeared him to jazz heavy-hitters including Tomasz Stanko, Steve Coleman and Chris Potter. With Mboko, Virelles explores ancient Afro-Cuban sacred and ritual musics through imaginative fusions with contemporary materials. Mostly he does this by using the two basses as drones, mixing spacious chord-moods with bursts of startling improvisation in a flux of styles, and focusing much of the melody-playing on drummers Marcus Gilmore and Roman Diaz, the latter a virtuoso of the traditional four-drum biankomeko kit. Diaz’s fingersnap sounds, quiet thrummings and tonal diversity enrich themes of softly-stroked chords, improv-piano splashes that distantly recall Thelonious Monk or Andrew Hill, and quizzical melodies full of skippy offbeats. It’s a jazz-infused world-music project beyond categories; Virelles looks set to make big differences in contemporary music for years to come.