Olivier Bogé, a young French saxophonist-composer, has assembled a tasty looking line up for his debut that includes the Brad Mehldau sideman Jeff Ballard on drums, Armenian hot shot Tigran Hamasyan on piano and the latter's touring companion, the New York-based Sam Minaie on bass. The personnel biog details have some relevance when it comes to Bogé's new recording. On an album of his original compositions, he nods at times to the type of Brad Mehldau piece that draws on rock songwriters such as Thom Yorke and Nick Drake. Tigran also plays a big part and his eastern folk influences also resonate throughout the music, while the leader Bogé's contemporary sourtoned post-bop sax improvisation perfectly offsets his sweetly attractive themes. While Ballard's grooves purr and fizz with energy and atmospherics, Tigran's signature is all over the recording and that's a good thing since we hear him bringing his more Chick Corea-ish jazz influences to life in this context alongside his freshly unique brand of piano that brims with the eerie Armenian folk and classical music of his upbringing. A contemporary-sounding recording that's well worth checking out.