The second album for ECM by young Italian pianist Giovanni Guidi takes the sensitive empathy of his multinational trio (with New York bassist Thomas Morgan and Portuguese drummer João Lobo) a few soft steps further on from its fine predecessor. The atmosphere is mostly quiet again, but there’s a growing intensity to Lobo’s Baiiia, after its ghostly percussion overture and bass variations; a conversational, Paul Bley-meets-Jarrett jangle to The Debate; Guidi’s Trilly – played twice, revealingly differently – is a beautiful ballad beautifully stroked; and so is his account of the famous Osvaldo Farres Latin theme Quizas Quizas Quizas. I’m Through With Love (the only standard song) opens as if the pianist had been listening to Bill Evans, but develops as a rhythmically floating free-jazz piece. This might ostensibly be a traditional piano trio, but the three expose the format to all kinds of rhythmic and harmonic mutations, their avoidance of nailing explicit grooves often leaving the timekeeping up to Guidi rather than his rhythm section. They don’t grab you by the throat, but they never need to.
