The second – and final – studio album recorded by the classic Evans/LaFaro/Motian trio, the aptly-named Explorationsis here presented as the latest in Craft Recordings’ ultra-premium Small Batch audiophile ‘one-step’ vinyl series.

Lavishly packaged (with facsimile sleeve, booklet and cloth-bound slipcase), this limited edition (only 2,500 copies are being made available worldwide), LP is, to use audiophile terminology, a sonic stunner. Mastering engineer Bernie Grundman has gone back to producer Orrin Keepnews and engineer Bill Stoddard’s original tape and the results are breathtaking. Every nuance of the interplay between the three musicians is rendered with diamond-sharp clarity and the sound picture is almost holographic in its realism.

And what of the music? In piano trio terms, Explorations is up there with the two Village Vanguard live LPs in its ‘conversational’ approach to music making; despite Evans’ name being on the cover, there is no leader as such, with each member of the trio making equally important contributions. This is only possible due to the extraordinary telepathy between the three musicians. On much-covered standards such as ‘How Deep Is The Ocean’, ‘Beautiful Love’ and ‘Sweet and Lovely’ the trio really get inside the music, teasing out new meanings and textures from these hoary old warhorses – it’s as if nobody had ever played these tunes before, so revalatory are the interpretations.

On more modern numbers – John Carisi’s ‘Israel’ and Miles’ ‘Nardis’ – the group play with supreme confidence, stamping their authority on the tunes and effectively taking ownership of them from their composers. Highlight of an album full of highlights is Earl Zindars’ ‘Elsa’, played with jaw-dropping delicacy and emotion by Evans, resulting in one of the most lyrical, and gorgeous, pieces of piano jazz ever committed to record.

Whether or not you’ll consider the £80 this LP will cost you worth it is up to you, but personally, I do. Explorations is after all a jazz treasure, fully deserving of this upscale presentation.