Pianist Fortner ticks all the boxes that a well-trained contemporary player should – impressive harmonic base; skilful improvising; mostly original material that is well executed. There is a pleasing conjunction of classical and latin sensibilities in the arrangements that reaches a highpoint on the closing piece ‘Finale’ where the fleet footed Afro-Cubanish beat is well served by a tightly mapped rather than expansive arrangement. Perhaps most impressively Fortner does not overplay on much of the set, a trap into which several of his peers have been known to fall. Yet for all these plus points this is a recording that announces a talent in a primary stage of development. Competently executed though the music is, it lacks a creative spark that will lift it above the rest of the pack. Above all the ensemble needs to vary its attack and structural approach more often as on too many occasions the material does not produce either a tricky tonal or metric shift, a sharp surge or a sheer drop in decibels, a break in tempo or a kink in the overall arrangement to knock the listener off balance and give the impression that the musicians are doing more than playing a straight bat. There is little here to bring a frown to your face, but that is offset by the fact that there isn't much to make your jaw drop either.