Based in Germany, Omer Klein has been described as “borderless” by The New York Times, which presumably means his style cannot be pinned down to a specific geographic location.

It’s something of a backhanded compliment, the tacit implication being his playing lacks a defining personality, a sort of multipurpose style – which is certainly not the case. Klein has matured in plain sight over some 10 albums, which include this, his fourth album for Warner Music. It’s an aural photograph of his playing on a certain date last year that reveals an unhurried, relaxed approach to melodic development that is absent in so many younger musicians today, who instead work a couple of patterns through a chord sequence in lieu of something to say.

What Klein has developed is an ability to inhabit the mood of a piece, such as ‘Cantando,’ a bossa nova (albeit not explicitly stated by Bresler) where he becomes Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano. It is perhaps this universality that prompted the term “borderless,” or a musical centre that is hard to define.

But that musical centre is emerging, and he's now moving towards becoming a much more complete artist.