Chihiro Yamanaka - The Spheres: Live In Osaka!! (2015)

A very cool little trio – and one who've got a lot more of a jazz vibe than you'd expect from their cartoony image on the cover! The group's led by keyboardist Chihiro Yamanaka, who plays both piano and a range of different keyboards – moving between acoustic and electric modes to create a different flavor on each track – one that's followed up by rhythmic shifts from bassist Dana Roth and drummer Karen Teperberg. Their approach is hardly like that of a typical piano trio – and instead mixes these surprisingly rich, serious passages with moments that are slightly more playful – but never in a gimmicky way – just this kind of compelling interweaving of elements that you might find from a group like The Bad Plus – although again, these guys are a lot more jazz-based overall. Titles include "Living Time Event V", "Rain Rain & Rain", "Insight Foresight", "Taxi", "Evidence",a nd "Himawari Musume".