Brad Mehldau does a great homage to the progenitors of heavy metal on his track ‘Sabbath’, so it seems only proper that Mehldau's regular drummer, Jeff Ballard, should go in for a spot of stoner rock on his debut release as a trio leader. The cover of Queens of the Stone Age's ‘Hangin’ Tree’ featured here sees Lionel Loueke plugging in an electric guitar and bar-chording with the best of them, while Ballard kicks out the jams on his kit and Miguel Zenón blows hard over the top on alto sax. Being great believers in stylistic variation, they follow it up with a super-subtle, lyrically gorgeous take on Béla Bartók's ‘Dal (A Rhythm Song)’. There's not a great deal these boys can't do, as they set out to demonstrate across the 10 tracks here, which mix originals with some unexpected forays into other musicians’ catalogues. Loueke's ‘Virgin Forest’ gives Ballard a chance to show his mastery of African polyrhythms, while the funky shuffle of the self-penned ‘Beat Street’ lets him show off his mastery of pretty much every other drumming style. Zenón and Loueke play unison lines and shoot variations across at one another on the avian-inspired ‘Western Wren (A Bird Call)’. The most obviously jazzy cut here, a delicately lush take on Gershwin's ‘The Man I Love’, proves they can even play in an old-school ballad style too. Who'd have thought it?