Joyous genre-bending

★★★★★

If ever a record deserved five stars for original content, this is it. Milestones interleaves music by the medieval Josquin des Prez with the modernist Igor Stravinsky and the jazz fusionist Miles Davis. The perils here are appalling — cultural misappropriation and patronisation, to list but two. The rewards, on a non-commercial label, are minimal and the chance of something going wrong is redoubled at every twist from one genre to the next. The musicians here are laying their necks on the line.

Amazingly, every single one of them — and two of the composers — emerge hugely enhanced. The very ancient Josquin requires rearranging for a modern ensemble if he is not to sound like a morbid monodist with bad teeth. In these settings, he sounds closer to Philip Glass than to Pope Innocent VIII, which makes a lot of sense. Miles Davis, too, requires some tweaking by pianist Gwilym Simcock to sit within what is essentially a classical chamber orchestra, conceived and conducted by the Swedish-based British violinist Hugo Ticciati.

The odd bod in the triptych is Stravinsky, whose 3 Pieces for String Quartet and 3 Pieces for Clarinet come across as boxy and unyielding by comparison to their adjacent composers. Miles literally plays rings around formal, static Igor.

Nils Landgren on trombone and clarinettist Christoffer Sundqvist are compelling and virtuosic. Robert Mehmet Ikiz is an incredible percussionist. Ticciati drives this recording like those legendary producers Teo Macero and John Hammond in the old 30th Street Columbia Studios, making history as much as music. The outcome is joyous, genre bending, irresistible. On my shortlist for record of the year.