The dense, driving chamber jazz of the Danny Fox Trio

I was plenty impressed by the 2011 debut of this New York piano trio, The One Constant (Songlines), which did its best to skirt the conventions of the piano-trio format. But the group's recent second album, Wide Eyed (Hot Cup), is so much more focused that it's clear The One Constant was a work in progress. Savvy pianist Danny Fox, who composes the trio's music, embraces the episodic writing, tight arrangements, and appealingly jarring rhythmic thrust of the Bad Plus-he once studied with that group's pianist, Ethan Iverson. He and his nimble, hard-hitting rhythm section (drummer Max Goldman and bassist Chris van Voorst van Beest) don't pile on solos in extended cycles like most postbop combos, preferring to integrate their improvisations more closely into the rapidly evolving compositions. On "Bonkers," for example, a romantic classical melody springs into being fully formed, enthusiastically buffeted by extroverted rhythms, and then just as quickly yields to ruminative, restrained clatter-which in turn gives way to a seriously furious recapitulation of the opening theme. The band's touch is supremely light on "Tumble Quiet" (which adds a faint recording of an electric clothes dryer), but its chamberlike feel doesn't partake of the pompousness or preciousness that mars so many classical-influenced performances-Goldman's percussive patter injects wonderful electricity and tension. On paper this trio might sound painfully clever and obnoxiously flashy, but its music pulses with humanity and warmth-the transformations and transitions in its songs arise organically from the players' rapid-fire three-way conversation.