Gourmet piano listening from a Swiss piano fromagerie of note, yet again the thought recurs as Frank Zappa put it that "jazz is not dead, it just smells funny"as in the best cheese, Swiss or not - the sparkling ingenuity is in the introduction. But ask yourself if listening blind and not knowing the song's title could you tell fellow anorak that it is Billy Strayhorn's 'Take the 'A' Train' before the theme kicks in?

And yet there's probably a reasonable case to be made when the penny does eventually drop that the piece is one of the most immediately knowable jazz standards of all partly because it became the Duke Ellington orchestra's signature piece from 1941 on. There are a staggering 740+ known recordings of the piece, vocals or instrumentals all in, although solo piano takes are far less often encountered.

The memory cells do make us reach for a stimulating and no less valid contrast by again listening to English pianist Alexander Hawkins' Stray away day epic 2014 Song Singular (Babel) version for a more overtly avant interpretation.

Swiss wiz Michael Arbenz best known for his work with Vein trio releases the full Ellingtonian monty in March.

MORE READING:

• Stan Sulzmann, Vein trio and the Mon Ami Ensemble (2021)

• Vein + Dave Liebman reviewed live (2019)

Michael Arbenz, photo: Bandcamp