If the jazz world decided to elect a single questioning phrase to sum up its craft, this album title would be a great candidate. With three words and a single punctuation mark, the very heart of jazz—a music of infinite decision(s), not indecision, as some may (mis)read that—is laid out for all to see. Those who operate in the jazz orbit are constantly searching, peering at the unknown and exploring the recesses of nature, body, and mind. Pianist Julian Shore, a rising star with a wide gaze and a firm sense of self, is one such person. He uses each song as an opportunity for invention on the enthralling, multifaceted Which Way Now?.

While the nature of possibility can have a crippling effect, it seems to do just the opposite for Shore here: It frees him up, allowing him to make each piece a self-contained story that's not beholden to what comes before it. However, a sense of personalized sophistication and quiet intelligence, stitched into every performance, ultimately connects them all. There's reflective, string-enhanced music that speaks with simple melodic grace ("Our Story Begins On A Mountain"); an entrancing composition that finds Shore working with vocalists