Most recently, New Zealand-born Broadbent, long known as a front-rank arranger of strings and accompanist to prominent singers, as well as for his membership of the late Charlie Haden's Quartet West, has impacted UK audiences through his elegant collaborations with Georgia Mancio. Here, though, it's his prowess as a trio improviser that is front and centre. And how very pleasing it is. Always a lucid, harmonically aware player, he's further revealed here as a solid swinger too, some of his lines like an updated tribute to Bud Powell, but invariably unhurried and always literate. Take Gigi Gryce's ‘Minority’, a perky piece with Mintz taking his own rhythmic journey as Broadbent unfurls his improvisation brilliantly: there's energy here, vigour too, the pianist intent on pursuing what sleeve note writer Allen Morrison calls his ‘deep groove’. Just so. Others have spoken of his bright sound and unquenchable creativity, this more than ever apparent in the close-to recording arrangements in Broadbent's home studio. No headphones needed. Harvie S. lays down a supple line and maybe solos at greater length than some might prefer and Mintz is occasionally insensitive, but all in all, this is an important recording by a veteran player who knows how to balance the insistency of bebop with the deeper lyrical qualities evinced in his carefully considered reading of Jule Styne's ‘I Fall In Love Too Easily’. A shoo-in for this year's Top 10, for sure.