This is a collection of original tunes from London-based pianist Phil Merriman, whose bassist John Williamson also appears in this month’s pages with a release of his own. Merriman’s style is rhythmical and sometimes quite austere, as on ‘Rest’. His trio is tight, and at times there’s that sense of coiled excitement that you get when top-class musicians are consciously playing within themselves.

His reworking of the standard ‘My Romance’ (the album’s only non-original composition) drifts quite a way from the conventional delivery, with metronomic piano and bass that also sounds quite mechanical. As a result, the romance has rather disappeared, but perhaps that was the whole point. Merriman can do delicacy too, of course, as on ‘Parallel Spirits’.

Harmonically, according to Merriman, he is thinking in terms of early 20th century modern classical composers - specifically Bartók and Messiaen, whose influence is clear on tracks like the opener ‘First One Back’. The ‘darker hues of gospel’ he cites are a little harder to detect. The Roots Beneath is a sober and distinctive album which bears repeated plays, although some may find it lacking in warmth.