Young bassist Ben Bastin was a member of the Bedfordshire Youth Jazz Orchestra before arriving in London in 2004 and studying on the Middlesex University jazz course, joining a diverse alumni in the process from Jason Yarde through to the members of Led Bib. Bastin has recorded and toured as sideman for Gilad Atzmon and singer Sarah Gillespie and this, his piano trio debut has a romantic flavour in the Phronesis mould, but extends the sonic texture with an element of chamber classical music on a few tracks involving strings. The less than pristine recording quality is strange, I’m assuming it’s intended, especially the piano sound and could conclude that the album title The Missing Piece actually refers to a producer. Otherwise Bastin’s bass is full-bodied, crunchy and his themes create expressive, gracefully lyrical ideas right until the last track.