It's not often a 'provincial' band (in this case from Bristol) sails into view and steals the thunder from those in the metropolis similarly vying for attention, and does it without setting foot beyond its own bailiwick.

Okay, you could argue that Alex Veitch is himself a transplanted Londoner, but Yetii also comprises a West Country bassist and a Welsh drummer, and Veitch is now a settled Bristolian. The Greenbank is a Bristol gastro pub serving craft beers, where Yetii have taken root in the upstairs function room and now sell out every time they play there.

Their live, self-produced debut CD has attracted attention in a who-are-these-guys kind of way – they are a true trio in the sense they are gaining a good understanding of each other's playing, and in Veitch they have talented operator cable of creating unpretentious original material – for example, ‘Spring’ is based on simple descending four bar chord sequence – that the threesome thoughtfully manipulate into a performance of substance.

As a recording outfit on their debut, they show much promise for the future, hence three stars, it's good, but promise means realising potential. Veitch has taken account of the usual American influences, for example his rootless Bill Evans-inspired left hand voicings on ‘Enough’ and ‘Asking’, but has added a European dimension that has taken account of Tord Gustavson and other Scandinavian pianists (albeit not quite so deeply) and Lars Danielsson's highly lyrical compositions. A major influence on Gustavson was Jan Johansson from whom there is much to learn, so too Enrico Pieranunzzi's technique and how he has used Bill Evans’ harmonic language to profound effect.

A bit of work to be done then, but playing together and growing together is the real secret of a piano trio's success, and these guys could well get there.