It seems we missed the prequel to this album, which was Astro Dogs from 2019 and recorded by Steven Graff on the Convivium Records label, but John Carbon’s piano music has also appeared on the Zimbel Records label and elsewhere. Fans can shop around and acquire what has now become a quite respectable discography, including a significant set of concertos and other orchestral works.

As a logical sequel to Astro Dogs, this differs in that many signs of the zodiac are represented by wild felines rather than domestic breeds, with the exception of the American Shorthair, Siamese and Maine Coon. The composer’s booklet notes for this release explain the inclusion of the Cheshire Cat and the Spotted Hyena, and go on to indicate further allusions and associations.

As is almost always the case, listening ‘blind’ to music with specific references and you can guarantee that most people will be hard pressed to identify particular names, star signs or species from the music alone, but as a starting point for a cycle or a collection it is always a positive thing to have what they call in Dutch a ‘kapstok’ (coat rack) on which to hang each piece of a particular project.

John Carbon is a native of Chicago and no-one need be surprised by the American colours in his compositional idiom, which is largely tonal and frequently quite romantic in expression. Where the ear is teased most is in his rhythmic approach, to which our attention is drawn straight away with the opening Saharan Cheetah, with at certain points a diverting disconnect between the pianist’s hands. Hopping rhythms also characterise the Spotted Hyena, but there is always a satisfying contrast between these pieces, with powerfully eloquent or gentle lyricism often sitting alongside more playful and swifter music. Each piece has its own interior narrative which can set the imagination alight, such as with the wide-ranging Siberian Lynx, that enters terrain both atmospheric and tumultuous.

Listeners will of course be drawn to their own star sign, which in my case is Libra and the Cheshire Cat. With this you are rewarded with a two-part line from which some striking harmonic twists evolve, emphasising perhaps the improvisatory qualities in some of these pieces, those which have a kind of stream of consciousness quality rather than works with a more apparent structural framework.

The playful ‘cat floating in space’ cover to this album hides a collection of pieces that presents a surprising wealth of emotional undulations, so while this music is by no means difficult in an avant-garde sense don’t expect a superficial or especially light and ‘fun’ set of kitties. Well recorded and superbly performed, some of these pieces are indeed quite virtuoso in nature, and Steven Graff’s achievement of recording the whole set in one day should certainly gain our admiration.