Here is a beautiful melange of interesting jazz-adjacent sounds by Romanian pianist Mischa Blanos, a new name to me.

A former child piano prodigy, the Romanian musician simultaneously inhabits two music worlds – clubbing and concert halls – alternating between classical piano pieces and dancefloor bangers. And jazz.

This tune, Basilica, is a bold fusion of jazz, acoustic piano, electronic textures and live percussion, recorded live during a residency at Malmaison, housed in a former Bucharest jail where he once had his own studio.

According to Blanos, the piece reflects on how our perception of faith has changed. “They built temples to hold the divine. Marble, gold, ceilings so high you lose your voice. But what if the sacred lives elsewhere?” he asks.

“I found something holier in a forest clearing. In the breath before a piano note. In the way a stranger smiled at me across the tracks in a godforsaken train station for no reason at all. This is my new basilica.”

Raised in Bucharest, Blanos trained in classical piano from the age of seven and went on to earn a long list of classical music awards from the age of ten.

He was all set for a stellar career in classical music when he left it all behind for his love of electronic music, mixing his piano with live samples, synths and keyboards.

By the time he released his first EP in 2018, he was already selling out venues with his solo project Live Electronics, and in a trio called Amorf, performing an edgier mix of minimal house and techno – always with his piano to the fore.

He’s rather brilliant, I think you will agree.