The Chicago jazz quartet blink. is releasing its sophomore LP, The Architects, today via Whistler Records. A departure from the ’08 release Epidemic of Ideas, the band’s founder and bassist, Jeff Greene, pushes the envelope of jazz, rock, and electronica, fusing it with free improvisation.

The highlight of this adventurous LP is the two-part “Protect the Light,” which bookend a story of nine masterfully crafted melodies defining modern jazz. In particular, part 1 exploration of forms, textures and motifs, sets the scene nicely of a dimly lit jazz club circa 1959. So within a blink of an eye, and spanning 52 years, the shape of jazz to come has arrived again.