In ancient Greece, phronesis was defined as practical wisdom, and it’s a quality much in evidence in this London based trio of pianist Ivo Neame, Swedish drummer Anton Eger and the band’s leader, Danish bassist Jasper Høiby. If any piano trio is primed to inherit the spirit, if not the letter, of the sadly missed EST, this may be it. Emerging from London’s Loop collective, Phronesis is built around Høiby’s compositions, anchored on powerful bass figures that mesh with Neame’s lavish melodic lines and Eger’s accomplished rhythmic architecture to create a band signature that has immediate impact. What’s more, they are getting a serious reputation in performance, and its already taken them to major festivals like North Sea, Banlieu Bleus and Copenhagen. All that road has distilled down into some intensely grooving music, vividly captured on their third CD Alive (Edition), a MOJO album of the year for 2010.