Yaniv Taubenhouse Trio: Perpetuation: Moments In Trio Volume Two

Anyone with an antenna out for an exciting, new(ish) piano trio would do well to give Yaniv Taubenhouse a listen. The Israeli-born and now New York-based pianist offers up his third recording, tagged Perpetuation: Moments In Trio Volume Two, bringing to mind Brad Mehldau's five Art of the Trio recordings on Warner Brothers Records, released between 1997 and 2001.

Taubenhouse studied with Mehldau, and the disc's opening title tune has a Mehldau-ian feel, with a persistent but understated rhythm pushing a wandering melody ahead. A lovely, inward mood pervades, with the pianist locked into sonic symbiosis with drummer Jerad Lippi and bassist Rick Rosato.

Half of the set's ten tunes are Taubenhouse originals; the rest are standards. Frederick Loewe's "On The Street Where You Live" follows the opener, with a bright and jaunty strut putting the pianist's crisp touch on full display. "Fairy Tale," another original, drifts along on a cloud, and "Paris" has the feel of a Great American Songbook tune, its lyrics just out of mind's reach.

Thelonious Monk's "Introspection" rolls out in a smoother fashion than most Monk covers, and "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" (such an American tune) proves this modern trio can reach all the way back to 1930 and pull a bright, relevant sound into the new millennium.

A marvelous piano trio outing. Taubenhouse has a restless sense of wonder on his own tunes, and a beautiful feel for the standards. And he's got crack trio-mates on board. He seems to know where he's going: where the music takes him. This is just Volume Two. No telling how many more are in the cards.

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