Stream: Stream

The piano trio and the disc have the same name: Stream. The group is a collective: Yago Vazquez piano, Scott Lee, bass, and Jeff Hirshfield drums. Vasquez is Spanish transplant to New York City, having moved there to study at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

The set contains a generous fourteen tunes, three penned by Vazquez, nine by bassist Lee, with a couple of collective improv pieces slipped in. Lee and Hirschfield are the seasoned veterans here, with enormous and prestigious resumes, but Stream doesn't sound like the old dogs walking the young dog through the process. The young dog more than holds his own.

The title tune, written by Vazquez, opens the set, a quirky and playful tune that manages to somehow sound dark at same time. It sets the tone for a cerebral listening experience full of intricate melodies and superb and subtle three-way interplay. "On Your Own," one of Lee's tunes unfolds at a measured pace, and features some of Vazquez' pretty comping behind nice bass solo. "F World" has Vaquez' piano sounding as if it's sneaking around dark streets. "Nocturno" is a luscious ballad, in large part a deep conversation between bass and piano.

The collective improvs: "Times Square," featuring Lee's eerily bowed bass, has a frenetic, unsettled logic; "The Cloisters" radiates a classical music majesty, closing out very good, very modernistic piano trio debut.

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