Uriel Herman, the young pianist and composer from Jerusalem, studied classical piano and composition with exalted Israeli conservatoire teachers during the 2000s, but has recently toured the world as a soloist and bandleader in pursuit of an increasingly personal and spontaneously-evolving music. When he released his 2014 debut album, Awake, it was evident how far the then 26 year-old Herman had moved from the orthodox roots of his training - songs by Nirvana and Radiohead joined originals framing words by revered Hebrew-language poets Yehuda Amichai and the gifted but short-lived Tirza Attar.

Different Eyes, Herman's third release, and a vivid collage of the sounds of his childhood on Jerusalem streets, mergers of rhythmic and melodic ideas spanning the Middle East, a little Chopin, and a closing lullaby dedicated to his young son – is the most powerful evidence so far of his formidable promise. The gently gliding ‘Jerusalem’ is a captivating melody for Herman's rippling piano line and Itamar Borochov's trumpet (a breathy confection of the sounds of the brass-playing Avishai Cohen and Arve Henriksen), and a startling cover of ‘Nature Boy’ opens with thrilling falsetto trumpet leaps before Herman sweeps and curls around the classic theme. Antonio Carlos Jobim's ‘Luiza’ gets a solo piano treatment flowing between rumination and passion, Nirvana's ‘Polly’ oscillates between a smoky waltz, a jagged bass-driven groove and a sax-swelling, folk-dancing whirl. If there are any racing certs for the 2023 pollwinners' lists so far, Different Eyes sounds like one of the front-runners.