Switzerland’s Vein Trio are partnered with US sax virtuoso David Liebman on this animated and skittishly jump-cutting set. When they released Vote for Vein! last year, piano and drums siblings Michael and Florian Arbenz and bassist Thomas Lahns wore their virtuosity lightly, but beneath some jokey asides they exhibited the eloquence and razor-sharp responsiveness that has attracted celebrity US horn soloists such as Liebman and Greg Osby. They play All the Things You Are as a kitten-on-the-keys scamper and a noodly sax-sketch that turns into swing over Florian Arbenz’s silky brushwork; Autumn Leaves as an abstract soprano meditation that teases its way toward the harmony; and You and the Night and the Music is all rugged tenor-sax epithets and fluent piano improv. The originals here include the evocatively swooping flute feature Clear Light and the whimsical and then staccato Negative Space. It’s unequivocally a contemporary jazz fan’s album, but a widely inviting one.
