Enrico Pieranunzi Trio, Vortez Jazz Club

Though less known in the UK, Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi has been a major force on the continental jazz scene since the 1970s. 

Often compared to the great Bill Evans, he’s a player and a composer of great lyricism, known for weaving together strands from both jazz and classical traditions, punctuating fugue-like patterns and lilting melodies with glassy chords and bursts of stately swing. 

After cutting his teeth as a sideman with the likes of Chet Baker and Lee Konitz he went on to release a raft of solo and small group albums under his own name, collaborating with top flight rhythm sections players such Paul Motian and Charlie Haden and earning critical acclaim in the process. 

It is his Racconti Mediterranei (Mediterranean Tales), a highly regarded trio recording from the year 2000, that provides the jumping off point for this Vortex appearance. 

With Gabriele Mirabassi (the clarinettist from Racconti Mediterranei) and go-to London bassist Geoff Gascoyne (who takes the place of Marc Johnson) completing the lineup, a return to the chamber jazz sound of the record looks certain, though the material will no doubt be fresh. 

Expect warm double bass lines and rich bowed passages, offset by swirling piano motifs and flurries of clarinet as the trio improvise their way in and out of the themes. 

For a player of his pedigree, Pieranunzi’s London appearances are few and far between while the prospect of hearing new material premiered in the UK is tantalising. October 28 is a date to remember.