The third cut, Arriale’s “Brasiliana,” finds the pianist in unison with Anderson’s baselines, then continuing the joint effort with her left hand while her right hand goes off exploring. With driving percussion throughout, Davis takes over with a conga-like attack on the toms, bringing it to a closing flourish with all in sync.

The Scottish tune, “Red Is the Rose,” is one of two traditional melodies on this recording and recalls Arriale’s affinity for Celtic influences (displayed prominently on her 1999 TCB recording, Melody). Gentle and contemplative, Arriale recalls Bill Evans here more than ever, infusing her improvisation with a majestic lyricism, while Anderson provides a similarly grand yet gentle structure, filling his deeply resonant solo with strongly melodic elements. Arriale brings it all back home as it began, beautifully drawing out the last notes, simplicity serving emotion.

The original and aptly titled “Sunburst” does indeed burst with Monkish figures from Arriale and Anderson. With quick starts and stops from drums as well as piano, the tune moves like a train picking up speed and slowing down briefly along its route. Arriale steers the locomotive, tearing along the track with a fast and fluid right hand, adding dramatic accents with her left, then fading as if pulling into the station. From here, Davis takes the engineer’s seat, rumbling and rattling, on top and underneath, picking up the momentum until the piano returns to the opening theme, with a final percussive burst from Davis signaling the end of the run.

Arriale’s operatic “Flamenco” begins as a Granados-flavored dance, a showcase for her fluid dexterity that reprises her years of classical training. Anderson provides marvelous support as an extension of the sustain pedal, then takes over with similar figures while the pianist stays in the background, but never out of sight. Throughout, Davis is restrained, offering just enough shimmer. Arriale picks it up again with a return to the melody, triumphantly resolving the tension like the closing of an aria from Carmen.

The New Orleans theme, “Iko Iko” (heard on the soundtrack to The Big Easy), is one of the most rhythmically interesting tracks, proving as did her rendition of “Kum-ba-ya” on Arise that an American piano trio in the 21^st century can bring new life to an overly familiar, seemingly mundane traditional melody. With delightful hesitations from all, Davis and Anderson provide a supporting palette of complementary colors. Here, the improvisation is as much about rhythm as melody and structure.

On her “Sea and Sand,”Arriale presents a simple melody and then deconstructs rhythm and tempo, aided and abetted by Davis’ subtle embellishments. As on many of these tracks, Anderson’s solo comes about midway through, and this time is particularly soulful. With the lyricism of a Beethoven sonata, Arriale brings us back to the melody, weaving a final variation, and a most delicate one.

The last track, Arriales’ beautiful “Twlight,” is marked by Davis’ deep, hollow punctuations from the toms, lending an almost tribal quality. While her right hand plays with the upper register theme, Arriale’s left hand adds another layer to the bassline before yielding briefly to Anderson’s dark and resonant passage. The slowly drawn resolution epitomizes this Trio’s hallmark melodic synergy.

The overall effect of Come Together is indeed a melding of the decade of performing and recording of the Lynne Arriale Trio. To a degree this recording harkens back a few years to Melody—particularly the folk influences, tunes that emphasize melody above all, but in this case mostly (and delightfully) original works. At the same time, the introspective quality interspersed with more rhythmic risks is the trio’s natural extension of Arise, perhaps a bit more subdued, but making its statements more elegantly than ever.

Where will this trio go next? One can only wish for a live rendition of original material, a follow-up to the brilliant and energetic Live at Montreux (TCB, 2000) that mostly covered standards. As solid as are her studio recordings, Lynne Arriale and her trio, in live performance, are, in the words of Bob Blumenthal, "one of the most empathetic threesomes in jazz," having "a shared metabolism.” Given the importance of the audience to their music, it seems another live recording is now overdue: “There's nothing more important to me than connecting with the audience," states Arriale. "That is ultimately why we play…When you experience life together as we do, the musical connection just naturally deepens over time. It allows us to be continually spontaneous, and the audiences really pick up on our excitement of always being on the edge."