CD: Vermillion

On his first piano trio recording for ECM, Kit Downes, together with bassist Petter Eldh and drummer James Maddren, achieves a special balancing act between lyrical care and eruptive momentum. The pianist and his long-time musical confidants meet in a way that combines - creatively and condensed at the same time - proven idioms of the format with their own ideas in a style exclusive to this trio. On "Vermillion", recorded at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, Downes opens a new chapter.