This trio album by Josh Nelson shows why he’s one of the most in-demand and busiest of LA pianists, gigging in sets ranging from vocalists to adventurous post bop. This album with bassist Alex Boneham and drummer Dan Schnelle finds him in comfort food mode, swinging with bone-marrrowed lyricsm at a March 2019 set of concerts at the Kobe Modern Jazz Club in Japan. All of the tunes are from Nelson’s pen except for a saloon meets Garner-esque read of Thelonious Monk’s “Reflections”. Nelson’s grip is strong on the full fisted swing of “Mint Blues” and he creates clever Asian harmonics on the bodhi tree of “Kintsugi”. His solos are always clever, adventurous and never lose their focus as on the lovely “Dirigibles” (which features Boneham) or the dynamic changing “Introspection On 401”. Nelson makes a great export to Japan.