The Basel-based Storione is a hugely talented pianist with a formidable technique and a style that is rooted in the mainstream, but utterly contemporary at the same time. The trio on this disc works exceptionally well with him, notably on somewhat old-fashioned swinging pieces such as his and the bassist's composition ‘Happy Hour’, where Shürmann's walking bass provides a firm foundation, and allows Rossy to display his almost telepathic intuition in mirroring the figures of the pianist's right hand with his deft brushwork. Storione's jazz roots are evident in his own tribute to Bud Powell, which is a kind of musical scrapbook devoted to the earlier pianist, with clever quotationsright-hand lines and complex turnarounds that evoke Bud's spirit, while never simply copying. Equally, ‘Ruby My Dear’ nods in the direction of its composer, Monk, picking up nuances such as the sustaining pedal work, and – especially in the introduction – Monk's chord voicing. This gorgeous unaccompanied track is worth the price of the album alone, and manages to evoke an ethereal beauty that often eluded Thelonious himself. Of the originals Schürmann's ‘Lonely Owl’ has a clear, memorable melodic contour over Rossy's shifting patterns, and Storione's own reflective piece ‘Violeta’ produces the trio's most intimate and interactive playing, above a mobile eight-to-the-bar pulse. Overall, utterly rewarding piano-bass-drums trio jazz, played impeccably.