The trio dialogue once again takes center stage on Almost There, the first album since End of Summer to bring together Espen Eriksen, Lars Tormod Jenset and Andreas Bye without Andy Sheppard’s saxophone. The Norwegian pianist signs all eight compositions, true to a conception of jazz in which melody and economy of means take precedence over display, while double bass and drums work on the nuances and the spaces left between the notes. Recorded and mixed by Mike Hartung at Propeller Music Division in Oslo, a studio already used for the trio’s previous albums, the record also pays particular attention to dynamics and the natural quality of the sound. “Sepia Sky,” “Winter Is Coming” and “The Atlantic” thus extend a writing style that brings melancholy, lyricism and restraint together.