Luminosity

Pianist Florian Hoefner terams up with a free flowing team of Seamus Blake/ts-ss, Sam Anning/b and Peter Kronreif/dr on a graceful collection of originals. Blake, one of the strong yet unheralded tenor players around, sounds warm and glowing as he teams up with Anning on "The Bottom Line" and glides like wind surfer on" The Narrows." The rhythm team is subtle and deft, playing with the groove on the tasty title track and mixing Gaellic sounds with modern pulsations on "Newfound Jig." Hoefner's touch is classy and clean, making some rich statements on "In Circles" while sounding pastoral on "North Country." Sophisticated without sterility.