"Lovely" but also free to take some wild asides, Russian-American pianist Simon Nabatov's quintet with trumpeter Ralph Allessi, saxophonist Sebastian Gille, bassist David Helm and drummer Leif Berger pivots around melodic cores from Nabatov's alluring compositions as he explores themes of love, refraining from cloying approaches through sophisticated and often edgy direction for his players.

Based in Cologne but including improvisers from Europe, Australia and South America, pianist Simon Nabatov extends his quartet concept into a sextet (hence the title), allowing greater flexibility in the band's collective free improvisations with influences of chamber jazz, as heard in two sophisticated improvisations capture live in 2022 at Salon de Jazz, in Cologne, Germany.