Lost Heroes ACT****

Blurring the line between jazz and classical music, and as happy leaning towards one side as the other, Iiro Rantala shines in this superbly recorded, heartfelt solo piano tribute to musicians he admires – lost heroes such as Bill Evans, Michel Petrucciani, Esbjörn Svensson, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, fellow Finnish composers Pekka Pohjola and Sibelius, and even Pavarotti. What's remarkable, given a prodigious technique and a playful, seemingly limitless imagination, is his clarity and restraint. If the elegant contrapuntal dance of Thinking of Mistyis so dazzling it seems multi-tracked, it's also coherently developed – as are the brilliantly juxtaposed lines of Bluesette. More characteristic, though, are the heart-on-sleeve Waltz for Bill, Tears for Esbjörnand an exquisite One More Waltz, whose terse beauty flirts with the sentimental only to emerge intact. See actmusic.com