Enrico PieranunziSoulNote ****

Enrico Pieranunzi has been so eminent among European jazz pianists for so long that there is, perhaps, a tendency in some quarters to take him for granted. You know Pieranunzi will always deliver, as he does on this excellent box set of six albums he made for the respected Italian SoulNote label, acquired in recent years by the Cam Jazz group.

The earliest album, Isis (1980), with Art Farmer (flugelhorn); the fiery, Phil Woods-inspired alto of the tragic Massimo Urbani; Furio Di Castri (bass); and Roberto Gatto (drums), is a solidly swinging session with a repertoire of bop staples ( Ah-Leu-Cha, Blue'n'Boogie, Au Privave), standards and orginals; in a consistently high-quality solo environment, Pieranunzi's Bud Powell- influenced piano is a standout.

Six years on, Deep Downmoves the music to an even higher level and unites Pieranunzi with Marc Johnson (bass) and Joey Baron (drums) in what is one of the best trios in jazz. The model is the interactive democracy of the Bill Evans Trio, and the liberating impact of Evans on Pieranunzi's playing is clear. Evans is also saluted in the repertoire, some of which was associated with him, and explicitly in Pieranunzi's Evans Remembered.

Three years later, the quality is maintained in No Man's Landwith Johnson and Steve Houghton (drums). The trio model is the same and Pieranunzi and Johnson are consistently stunning in the wealth of ideas they share and the way they spark off each other.

The only live album is the aptly named Flux and Change, a 1992 duo joust with drummer Paul Motian, loosely programmed in three "suites" of standards (mostly) and originals linked by freely improvised episodes. Risk- taking, exchanging ideas and intellectual fun are the focus, with structure a secondary consideration.

Back in a trio situation on the hugely enjoyable mid-1990s Seaward,with Hein Van de Geyn (bass) and André Cecarelli (drums), Pieranunzi is obviously playing with two of his favourite musicians. The approach is somewhere between straight-ahead and the Evans model, and the music is relaxed, buoyant, purposeful and imaginative.

The same is true of the final album, Ma l'amore no, with an accomplished jazz singer (Ada Montellanico) and a trio, with Lee Konitz (alto) guesting superbly on six tracks and Enrico Rava (flugelhorn) on two. Remastering throughout the set is excellent. See CamJazz. com