Dave Bass plays…PIANO (go figure!), as he leads his trio of Kerry Kashiwagi/b and Scott Gordon/dr through a mix of boppers, ballads and originals. Of the former, his allegiance is made clear as he sizzles around Gordon’s kinetic drums on Bud Powell’s “Tempus Fugit” and has fun with the snappy version of Thelonious Monk’s “Four In One”. Gordon’s mallets add to the somber atmosphere of “Green Leaves Of Summer” while Kashiwagi mourns on a bluesy and desultory “I Fall In Love To Easy”, while swinging to Denny Zeitlin’s “Carole’s Garden”. Guitarist Barry Finnerty joins in for a jabbing and jiving three legged race of “Gandingo, Mondongo y Sandungo” and sears through the leader’s rubato of “Baltic Bolero”. Rewarding interplays throughout.