Just what the world needs: another unknown that some clever producer paired-up with a couple of heavyweights, presumably to add "gravitas" to this session. But y’know what? It matters not if the session is good (hey, the Monkees were assembled by some producers but they turned out a number of good songs, right?), and this one is quite good. No epiphanies likely, just a disc of solid, imaginative, genially direct piano-trio jazz with plenty of heart. Pianist Noah Baerman has a most interesting style: the "heavy" touch of Brubeck (it’s easy to see in yr mind’s eye a close-up of the piano key going ‘down’ into the keyboard), some of the angularity of Monk, the humane earthiness of Horace Silver and the stylishness & technique of Kenny Barron (with whom Noah B studied under), and he plays in a very "relaxed" manner that is nonetheless active, engaging and harmonious. At times, his acoustic piano shimmers/decays with a tone that sounds like its emerging an electric piano. NB has got the big C - conciseness; there’s 10 tunes here, mostly originals, with no noodle, no doodle, no waxy yellow buildup. Best track: "Where’s Norm,?" where NB spins out a long, tense, free-inflected and dazzlingly logical line that suggests a cross between Brit avant-gardist Keith Tippett and McCoy Tyner. Baerman is a talent worth watching. (Oh yes, Carter & Riley are their usual ace selves.)