The Colin Vallon Trio has found its own space in the crowded world of the piano trio by quietly challenging its conventions.
On its third ECM album Vallon again leads the group not with virtuosic solo display but by patient outlining of melody and establishing of frameworks in which layered group improvising can take place.
With this group, gentle but insistent rhythms can trigger seismic musical events. Although Vallon (recently nominated for the Swiss Music Prize) is the author of nine of the pieces here, the band members share equal responsibilities for the musics unfolding. The gravitational pull of Patrice Morets bass and the intense detail supplied by Julian Sartoriuss drums and cymbals are crucial to the success of Vallons artistic concept and the range of emotions the music can convey.