Having released a pair of small group albums, pianist Michael Jefry Stevens delivers a series of solo arias on this latest album. The fifteen pieces range from between one and a half to just over four minutes, so the emphasis is on clarity of melody and thought, forming concise moods and not going into self indulgence. Each song is respectfully treated, with his hands richly warm on reads of “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry “while floating like a vapor during “Every Time We Say Goodbye”. Stevens is a master of patience and use of space, with each silence a note in itself, as on a dreamy “O Grande Amor” and the soft “You Are Too Beautiful”. There’s a dash of a Monkish feel on “Recado Bossa Nova” and his read of “Chelsea Bridge” undulates like a spool of tones. Pensive permutations.