There is surely nothing more exhilarating, or absorbing, than maestro Enrico Pieranunzi getting in the zone in front of a live audience with a bassist and drummer attuned to his wavelength.

One of Europe’s top jazz pianists, he still (undeservedly) remains a bit of an unknown quantity in the UK, but albums that have caught him peaking in the creative moment, such as Live in Paris, Yesterdays and – under bassist Mads Vinding’s name – The Kingdom, represent jazz at is highest level of creativity.

For Pieranunzi, there is something about performing in front of a live audience that causes a switch to click somewhere in his mind and his playing goes up a level, yet surprisingly there are only a small number of live recordings in his discography.

But now we can add Suite for Sienna, recorded in 1991, to the list. With an all-Italian trio, he segues from one composition to the next, thus ‘Suite For Sienna’ includes ‘Leaves,’ a Pieranunzi original, plus ‘On Green Dolphin Street,’ ‘The Man I Love’ and ‘Tenderly,’ each seamlessly linked by a ‘Triolude’ between each – a spontaneously conceived interlude.

They link familiar standards, but like the great musical prestidigitator he is, they are passed through the prism of reharmonisation, unexpected rhythmic approaches and totally reimagined in a way that takes the song and listener in unexpected directions.

A master pianist, no-one in jazz has such even balance in their fingering, and few can match his technique, which has been likened to that of a concert pianist – indeed, he was once on the faculty of The Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia in Rome, one of the oldest musical conservatories in the world, where he taught aspiring concert pianists. On a CD of only two tracks he finishes with ‘Yesterdays,’ which is nothing short of sublime.