Poignant — and at times, playful — return to casual casts a shifting mood. Nine original works (and one new arrangement on Kate Bush’s “Mother Stands for Comfort”) all composed within weeks of each other layer, displace, dismantle, and reassemble among the Houston native’s fellow artists. The music establishes points of departure, leaving all the artists plenty of interpretive space.

Dedicated to collaborative work with some of the music’s most influential voices — including Akinmusire, Terence Blanchard, Gerald Clayton, Eric Harland, Jason Moran, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Herbie Hancock, Maria Schneider, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Dee Dee Bridgewater — Smith has crafted a distinct style, personal vocabulary, and compositional approach that serves the individuality of his fellow artists. For the past several years, he has been co-leading the acclaimed In Common project with Stevens, exploring and refining different conceptual approaches to writing.