Hungarian-born Laszlo Gardony moved to the US in 1983 to study at the then Berklee School of Music, after graduating from the Béla Bartok Conservatory in Budapest. His talent was such he was invited to join the faculty upon graduation, and he has moved between Berklee and the New York scene ever since. An accomplished, almost effortless improviser, La Marseillaise documents his solo concert at the 2019 Keys Festival at Berklee College of Music. Like many Europeans he is unafraid to delve into the classical repertoire as vehicles for jazz improvisation. The eight tracks here, presented in the order played, were all spur of the moment decisions during performance opening with ‘Revolution’ (inspired by ‘La Marseillaise’, one of the great national anthems), which somehow leads to ‘O Sole Mio’, better known in the UK as ‘Just One Cornetto’. Next up, he asks the audience to name four notes, which they do, and he creates a beguiling, spontaneous, fantasia built around them that leads to an orchestral climax. There is another spontaneous creation, ‘On the Spot’, plus two Gardony originals and the standards ‘Misty’. and ‘Quiet Now’. Throughout Gardony is conscious of building a creative arc with his performances as one mood leads into the next; he is a fine pianist who has mastered the sound of surprise.