Yaron Herman Trio - Follow The White Rabbit

(ACT Records)

Yaron Herman was a promising basketball player for the Israeli junior national team until a knee injury ended his serious sporting ambitions. He turned instead – at the relatively advanced age of 16 – to piano, and has made a considerable impact on the international stage. This, his fifth album, reveals a maturing talent at work in the context of a responsive new contemporary trio with bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Tommy Crane.

His first album grabbed attention with unexpected pop covers, and he reprises that on a couple of tunes here. He gives a lyrical rather than angry spin to Nirvana’s ‘Heart Shaped Box’, but doesn’t do much at all with Radiohead’s ‘No Surprises’. His own compositions are engaging, as are Lewis Carroll-inspired group compositions ‘Follow The White Rabbit’ and ‘White Rabbit Robot’.