For most of the last decade, pianist and composer Aaron Parks has been building a world with Little Big. The band weaves together threads from jazz, rock, electronic textures, and folkloric traditions into a language of its own. Its name comes from John Crowley's fantasy novel Little, Big, whose refrain is that the further in you go, the bigger it gets. The music works the same way. Tunes that seem simple on the surface open into something vast once you step inside them.

On Little Big IV (Blue Note, 2027), that world opens wider than ever. After the focused, distilled sound of the band's previous album, Parks lets in a whole new range of harmonic color, with melodies that turn and shift like the view through a kaleidoscope. But the purpose remains: this is music meant to draw listeners out of distraction and back into their bodies, their emotions, and the room they're sharing with everyone else.

"I love this band. I was sleeping on them but not anymore." — Brad Mehldau