Matthijs Blom Stella Starlight Trio

Like so many American players, Sweden's Esbjorn Svensson has backed his share of pop artists but is essentially a jazz improviser at heart. Svensson's enthusiasm for improvisation came through loud and clear on his Dragon dates of the 1990s, one of which was the decent When Everybody Has Gone. Backed by fellow Swedes Dan Berglund (bass) and Magnus Ostrom (drums), Svensson favors the piano trio format and draws on post-bop influences like Chick Corea, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett on the standard "Stella By Starlight" and originals ranging from the pensive "4 a.m." to the melancholy "Waltz for the Lonely Ones" and the Middle Eastern-influenced "Mohammed Goes to New York." Much of Svensson's work tends to be introspective and impressionistic, but things get surprisingly funky and almost Horace Silver-ish on "Tough Tough."

Swiss pianist Thierry Lang has always admired Toots Thielemans with great affection and sincerity. Thus it was only a matter of time for the two to work together. This happened when, in 1989, Toots Thielemans and the Thierry Lang Trio got together for a great concert at Cully Jazz Festival. The result was so special that the promoter of Cully Jazz Festival decided to repeat the experience the following year, something quite rare in the programming of any festival. This never-released-before-material was recorded by Radio Suisse Romande (now the RTS, Radio Télévision Suisse) and contains tracks from both events.