The Ohio-born London-based drums veteran Jeff Williams is on a roll at the moment. Last year's excellent ‘live’ Lifelike, recorded at Dalston's Vortex Club at the end of the band's 2017 UK tour, was his fourth for Whirlwind Recordings since 2008. The pianist Ethan Iverson introduced him as a ‘master’ at a recent gig at the Vortex, and his CV attests to both his depth and quality with long stints in the bands of Stan Getz, Paul Bley and Lee Konitz, as well as the pioneering Lookout Farm with Dave Liebman in the early 1970s. Williams' fifth disc with a piano-bass-drums trio is perhaps his strongest to date. Bloom matches him with a pair of New York-based musicians: the pianist Carmen Staaf and bassist Michael Formanek. The shared writing credits ensures a stand-out contribution from all three. The formidable Formanek is someone well equipped for any kind of New York jazz hybrid and here he creates a meaty backbone, triggering an infectious collective interplay with Williams and Carmen Staaf, who's the current musical director for Dee Dee Bridgewater. She makes a huge impression throughout with spiky rhythmic invention and rich harmonic inflections. It's always a treat when the ‘real thing’ comes along and this particular Jeff Williams trio is undoubtedly that.