Pianist Steve Kuhn has worked with both bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Joey Baron in many contexts over several decades, but they had never played together in a trio setting prior to recording this last year. You would never guess that, though – they sound as though they do this all the time. For his own compositional contributions, Kuhn chooses to revisit material he has recorded before in other settings, and they come up sounding freshly reinvigorated. Their reading of Carla Bley’s ‘Permanent Wave’ perfectly captures its cool jauntiness, while Swallow’s ‘Good Lookin’ Rookie’ is a crisp closer. Three masters at work.

Steve Kuhn Trio "Adagio"