" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Alesbrook's second record under his own name. Like Venus emerging fully-formed from the head of Zeus, Alesbrook's tasteful proficiency is truly startling until you realize it was honed outside of jazz, with years of busy sideman efforts in other types of music.

Another surprise is that while The Stories We Tell Ourselves contains all-original tunes, they are actually very good ones. Such collections often mean the kiss of death for artists; although it's understandable when they chafe at playing yet another "Body and Soul" and want to offer something totally theirs, not everyone belongs in the American Songbook (or any other songbook, for that matter). Truth be told, few players can assemble a high-level and thoroughly enjoyable recording of just their own songs.

But Alesbrook can (full disclosure: three of these eleven tunes were co-written). From his opening homage to