Drawing inspiration from the majestic red rock formations of New Mexico and the mystical Hebrides Islands of Scotland, jazz pianist and composer Bill Carter has written twenty-two songs without words. Or, to be more precise, psalms without words. The tracks on his newly-released two-CD set are in fact instrumental jazz interpretations of several ancient psalms from the Hebrew Scriptures, played by Carter and the immensely talented Presbybop Quartet.

Among the songs are “Haunted Landscape,” a composition born of the high desert setting of New Mexico’s Ghost Ranch and Psalm 63; “Iona Morning,” inspired by an island retreat center in Scotland and Psalm 104; and the New Orleans-spiced “Everybody Dance,” Carter’s response to the invitation to dance in the last chapter of the Book of Psalms.

The composer’s creativity is spurred not only by natural beauty and encounters with the holy, but by the universe of jazz greats with whom he a...