THE TRIO PROJECT: MOVE

Hiromi Uehara's Trio Project takes a simple acoustic jazz trio lineup of piano, guitar and drums and applies this to complex, prog-influenced jazz fusion with - on Move, at least - influences detectable from the likes of Magma and Univers Zero. The acoustic instrumentation allows Hiromi and her capable assistants to apply a wide emotional range to the material; though they can shred like the most furious of their influences, they can explore gentler and more soothing textures more easily thanks to their choice of instruments and the production here.

The best example of this is on the "Suite Escapism" triptych ("sweet escapism", geddit?), in which the furiously busy Reality and gentle, dreamlike Fantasy are brought together in a balanced way on In Between. It's an extremely good fusion release which makes it clear that Hiromi might just be one of the most exciting talents in jazz today - not to mention one of the few taking jazz fusion into new, uncharted territory.