Extended are an adventurous piano trio who have been around for a while, debuting five years ago. They are pianist Oscar Rossignoli hailing from Honduras, bassist Matt Booth from near Washington DC and drummer Brad Webb from South Louisiana (obviously not the Jamie Cullum drummer of the same name as he's a Brit and usually extravagantly coiffed).

They grabbed me here playing their own tunes on a studio affair recorded in New Orleans. 'Impairment Process' begins with Webb brittle and jumpy and then things move on founded by an anchoring pedal note from Rossignoli who becomes quite rococo in his darting forays (I'm thinking ELEW even in this. Oh, I miss ELEW, but haven't heard a record of his in ages).

'Sphere' doesn't sound all that Monkish (if there is an intention to pun off a variant on Monk's middle name that is, if there isn't let that chin-strokery go). More to the point the piece can grab the listener by the lapels. The tension in 'Sphere' ratchets up. And it seems that the band can go a little gung-ho at times but I rode with it and 'The Ineffable Allure of Shadows' has a straightforward pastoral melody and sounds even quite European, meaning the sort of tune numerous exceptionally quiet piano trios from Germany and Switzerland habitually trot out. Booth comes through here and takes a fine, oh, Gary Peacock-like solo and his foundational note at the beginning which sounds, shoot me if I'm wrong, as if it is layered under a piano note on 'Central Standard' and is one of the highlights of this very well-engineered album as is this track which has an anthemic swagger to it.

So, in all, I'm thinking the previously referred-to artist formerly known as Eric Lewis a little and interesting tunes that lead to intelligent outcomes. We are all for an unlikely adjective, that can also just as easily function as a past participle and a past tense of a verb, as a band name. But note in terms of imagination it's all about the present and being so in the detail of flow achieved by the achievements of advanced group interplay. SG

Released on 20 May and obtainable via this link

Extended, l-r: Oscar Rossignoli, Matt Booth, Brad Webb, above. Photo: press