As a standard jazz format, the piano trio (piano, bass, drums) has come in for some radical shake-ups in recent times, sometimes bringing it close to total demolition. This young Cuban pianist can be pretty radical too, but his melodic flair, harmonic ingenuity and bravura technique are so engrossing that they sweep such considerations aside. His jazz is recognisably Cuban in the way that Stan Tracey’s was recognisably Britsh – nothing obvious, just the feel of the thing. But the fluency, the variety of mood and tone and the perfect integration of the trio are all uniquely his.
