Following up her inspired trio project Alula and her album Anthems co-led with pianist Rob Clearfield, alto saxophonist Caroline Davis offers the strikingly original Portals, Volume 1: Mourning. Her rapport with master trumpeter Marquis Hill is decisive, as is her sonorous blending of string quartet and jazz quintet textures. Pianist Julian Shore, bassist Chris Tordini, and drummer Allan Mednard lend Davis’ intricate writing a fine-tuned rhythmic propulsion. Violinists Mazz Swift and Josh Henderson, violist Joanna Mattrey, and cellist Mariel Roberts expand on the string quartet’s conventional role, handling composed and improvised passages with skill and imagination. Davis intersperses spoken-word elements throughout the program, creating an aura of mystique and emotional resonance.