Stefano Battaglia Trio - The River Of Anyder (2011)

The pure water of the Anyder River flowered through Sir Thomas Moore’s “Utopia”. Italian pianist Stefano Battaglia celebrates it and other mythical and legendary locations in a trio recording of new compositions which spurn self-conscious modernity: “I pushed myself to write songs and dances uninfluenced by the sophistication of contemporary musical languages, striving to shape pieces that might have been played on archaic instruments a thousand years ago.” If the piano trio is itself a modern institution and the group understanding that Battaglia, Maioere and Dani share cannot help but be of-the-moment, Battaglia has nonetheless made an album that feels “timeless”.