Yaniv Taubenhouse Trio: Moments In Trio, Volume One

Pianist Yaniv Taubenhouse presents his second album as leader with the bold Moments In Trio, Volume One providing another fresh set of innovative new originals continuing the personal musical journey he began documenting with his highly-acclaimed debut Here From There (Fresh Sound Records, 2015). Together with new fellow band mates Jerad Lippi on drums and Rick Rosato on bass, this Tabenhouse Trio glide gently through nine original compositions of classically-tinged modern jazz and one re-imagined standard delivering several balladic and some swinging moments to savor.

The opening "After the Storm" is a tender tune shedding a ray of sunshine through a seemingly clouded sky of emotions capturing the pianist on some of his finest solo moments of the disc while the following "All the Figs," reveals brighter landscape where bassist Rosato weighs in with strong, solid and extended bass lines well before the leader makes his own mark on the piece. Drummer Lippi takes center stage with a rousing opening statement on the aggressive "Sunshine in Pain" as his stick work and cymbal accents pronounce the track.

Tabenhouse brings the trio back to much calmer waters on the light "Conversation," another of the warmer balladic tunes the trio is best known for, as bassist Rosato introduces the intricate and introspective "Migrations," a challenging composition that changes directions and texture making it one of the more modern-styled tunes of the set.

The pianist's classical training seems to seep through on the beautiful "Prelude of the Ozarks" as the "Unknown" original takes the group back to the modern side offering another testament of the leader's skills on the piano with another excellent solo joust on the keys.

The impressive session begins to close on the most ambitious piece of the repertoire with "Imaginary Darkness" and a creative treatment of the old 1941 standard by Burton Lane "How About You?" providing one of the finest renditions of the classic around. Following the formula he used on his debut recording, Yaniv Tabenhouse once again takes moments of the classical and moments of jazz and designs a sparkling session of music with more delightful Moments In Trio, Volume One, pleasantly laying the musical groundwork for Volume two.