Enrico Pieranunzi Current Conditions

Recorded live in Rome before a polite audience - radio audiences always are - Current Conditions features what Enrico Pieranunzi has called "the trio of my heart", with Marc Johnson on bass and Joey Baron on drums.
It also marks something of a change of direction, ora at least a broadening of his concers away from the deep vein of Romantic melancholia which he's been mining. This was apparent from last year's Enrico Pieranunzi tribute Play Morricone on the same label, which showed a new-found exuberance. Most compositions are by Pieranunzi but there are also what I assume are two free improvvisations credited the three musicians, "Joey's Magic Tricks" and "Trio Reflections". Presented with these in a blidfold test, I don't think Pieranunzi would have been my first guess. Other pieces are more characteristic however.