Having made a name on the Swiss jazz scene, the fiftysomething Zurich-born pianist and composer Christoph Stiefel looked to make a splash in the UK in 2012, first playing with Gwilym Simcock in a duo at the Steinway Piano Festival then at the London Jazz Festival with his trio, the one featured here. This is his second UK release on Christine Allen's Londonbased Basho Records following on from his 2012 Live! On that album he explored the concept of isorhythms, a way of layering repeated rhythms with altered melody lines. But unlike other contemporary jazz musicians also doing the math concerning rhythm, Stiefel succeeds in transcending these conceptual processes by exploring old school concepts such as warmth and emotional resonance. Isorhythms might play a lesser role in this follow up CD, Big Ship, but the originals are still rooted in jolting meters and loop-like grooves which add to the interest especially in terms of the band's percussive dynamism. Though it's the familiar range of influences for the contemporary pianist – from Keith Jarrett to Brad Mehldau through to EST – that touch his improvising, group concepts and composing, Stiefel is quietly putting down his own unique stamp on contemporary piano trio jazz.