Since the nineties, the drummer and bandleader Jim Black has been one of the most influential figures of progressive jazz. On his Intakt Records debut, Jim Black plays with the acclaimed young pianist Elias Stemeseder and highly in-demand New York bass player Thomas Morgan contemporary jazz with distinctive arrangements, complex rhythms and expressive improvisations.

Hank Shteamer writes in the linernotes: "The Constant, a suitelike collection of 10 new pieces, is a meditation on song – a celebration of plain-spoken melody but also an interrogation of the fragility of musical order. The Constant is a narrative of competing currents. On one hand, there is melody, most prominently a wistful, winding line that appears in opening track “High” and reoccurs throughout the album. As “High” begins, we hear Morgan dreamily plucking out this theme. The drummer, using brushes, adds whispering free-time textures, while the pianist makes his own way toward the motif. But there is also a gentle turbulence at work – a sense of the elusiveness and instability of song."

Cover art: Heike Liss/ Jonas Schoder
Graphic design: Jonas Schoder
Liner notes: Hank Shteamer
Photos: Roberto Cifarelli
Executive producer: Florian Keller

All compositions by Jim Black – Strufa Music (BMI), except “Bill” by Jerome Kern/PG Wodehouse. Session produced, recorded and mixed by Amandine Pras at Water Music, NJ on December 9, 10, 11, 2015. Gabriel Bento, chief studio engineer, Rob Grenoble, studio owner, Christian Pelaez, studio intern & Josh Gomersall, studio intern. Mastered by Alan Silverman, Arf! Productions.