CD CHOICE: STEVE KUHN TRIO WITH JOE LOVANO
Mostly Coltrane ECM *****What makes this a success is how Kuhn and Lovano, with David Finck (bass) and Joey Baron (drums), take ownership of music fraught with memories of John Coltrane and his classic quartet, with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones.

Both groups share an interactive approach, in which the soloist is just one part of an ongoing group dialogue, and the differences reflect only the musical personalities involved in each group.

It's not a question of quality. Kuhn worked with Coltrane for three months in 1960, but his piano playing is a world removed from Tyner's percussive chordal inclinations, so right for Coltrane's spine-chilling, intense incantations. Kuhn's spacious, songlike piano on the trio I Want to Talk About Youand the stunningly gentle Welcomespell out the difference graphically here. And it's perfect for this group.

'Trane's Song of Praise, from Kulu Sé Mama(1965), is a solemn chant, a modal hymn whose gentleness is matched by gracious, inventive solos by Kuhn and Lovano and anchored by Finck's bass, with Baron's responses to their ideas uncannily and consistently apt. Their intensity is different from Coltrane's, but it's no less moving.

Playing tenor – he uses taragato on Spiritual– Lovano is the one in the hottest seat. It's not evident in his performance. Lovano is unique as a ballad player, with a slightly querulous tone that packs more expression into a few flurries than most manage in a whole solo. He's in great form here; the tenor solos on Welcome, I Want to Talk About You, Crescent, Living Space(where he comes close to matching the dignity of Coltrane) and Central Park West(a gorgeous duet with Kuhn) are Lovano at his best and most individual.

As for Joey Baron, he also has an illustrious counterpart in Coltrane’s group. And while it’s doubtful if anyone has ever matched Elvin Jones’s polyrhythmic power, Baron is a latter-day master of reaction, drive and colour; not as intense, but just as subtle. And, as with Jones in Coltrane’s quartet, it’s impossible to imagine this group without Baron.