Kühn’s New Trio was formed in 2015, with Beauty & Truth following in 2016, taking the ‘Best German Ensemble’ prize at the 2017 ECHO Jazz Awards. Kühn’s shrewd reinvention of himself was as unexpected as it was timely. Severing his 30-year association with Francois Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair, the 70-year-old pianist became young again by surrounding himself with musicians less than half his age. With it has come, if not a change of direction, then a change of emphasis, with an album of songs chosen for their strong melodic content, the intention of each performance being to get to the point as concisely as the music will allow. Love & Peace is largely comprised of originals from Kühn, Jennings and Schaefer plus Mussorgsky’s ‘Le Vieux Chateau’, The Doors’ ‘The Crystal Ship’ and Ornette Coleman’s ‘Night Plans’. Within the 11 numbers, Kühn explores a range of musical moods, including some that can veer from inside to outside, an element that gives his music a sense of danger, but equally, he is also an intensely lyrical player and between these contrasting elements the pianist has found another way to be himself.