Despite being one of the defining greats of new French jazz of the last two decades, trombonist Yves Robert – perhaps the most striking of all the European Mangelsdorff successors – appears not to have shed his lingering reputation as an insider tip. The œuvre of the always inspired musician with outstanding instrumental control may be quite manageable with 12 albums in over thirty years, but among them are recordings of almost exemplary significance. The trilogy with his trio, launched in 2002 with In Touch (ECM) and now completed with Inspired (BMC), would serve as only one example.

On this most recent live album, Monsieur Robert – who once emerged from Louis Sclavis’s band and is a lover of chamber music-style formats – once again trusts in the virtually empathetic artistic vision of accomplished bassist Bruno Chevillon, who was part of Sclavis’s very first trio in the late 1980s. And the phenomenal Iranian-French drummer Cyril Atef, displaying the diversity of a musical cosmopolitan, remains a reeling pivot of the action.

Stylistically exploring fields as far-ranging as funk, dub, and even techno, the gentlemen still retain a casually executed, jazzy attitude. In contrast to Robert's often lyrically warm music, focussing on the sensuality of sound, this new crossing of boundaries is quite a tour-de-force with at times seductive grooves. And we presume that this trio will get the audience off their seats.