To begin with an admission: ECM’s early music-inspired projects have not always convinced me, despite the conviction and integrity of the performers, for it’s often seemed as though the interpreters’ vision has trumped that of the original composers. And although Rolf Lislevand’s approach to the High Renaissance includes marked departures from his sources, everything’s done with such evident awareness of the style of the period, not to mention panache, that it’s nearly always possible to suspend disbelief.

More often than not, Lislevand’s strategy is to combine a polyphonic piece with an instrumental elaboration of it by such figures such as Ortiz, Terzi or Francesco da Milano, cross-breeding them to create an elaborate fantasia in which the whole ensemble takes part. (This, by the way, consists predominantly of plucked instruments, with percussion and a couple of female singers added to the mix, the latter to remind us of the original tune.) The result owes much to jazz but avoids the wilful impression typical of so much intended “crossover” of this sort. One has the impression of musicians, in other words, who may actually have experienced jazz from the inside, rather than slapping it on modishly. Only the singers seem to have been added on for effect, since the tunes were so well known as not to need picking out. The most extended such fantasias are those on the tunes Petit Jacquet and the ubiquitous Susanne un jour; other pieces are more strictly instrumental, or based on common dance patterns like La Spagna or the Passamezzo. The playful approach to sources is recounted somewhat mischievously in Lislevand’s notes, giving a lucid, engaging account of the endeavour. And the playing’s simply superb.