The poet John Keats famously wrote: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." That's the kind of album this is. It's one stretch of beautiful playing from beginning to end. It's not a "statement," it's not a "thing," it's not a "groove." It's just music that, taken as a whole becomes an "objet d'art," something special to have in your collection and listen to over and over again because its perfection draws you towards it.

Pianist Ron Thomas is known for his excursions into experimentation and complexity. A decade ago, this reviewer interviewed him before his gig at the Rosetree Inn in Delaware County, PA. Thomas talked about the influence of modern classical composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and Elliot Carter, both of whom were mentors, and his recordings, while not "free jazz" as such, pressed the limits of musical expression, even had a "wild" unbridled quality. After the interview, we went downstairs, and I sat at the bar while he did his solo gig of American Songbook standards. It was as if another person than the one I just interviewed were at the piano, somewhat as if Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett was playing softly so the customers could enjoy their dinner. I thought he was playing that way so he could pay the rent. This album -and one that preceded it, Blues for Zarathustra (Art of Life Records, 2008) -tells us quite the contrary, that Thomas has another side to him: a reflective, introspective temperament that is immersed in the French impressionism that influenced mid-twentieth century popular music, swing, bebop, and hard bop. This album makes very intelligent use of that genre. With his cohort, bassist