There’s no mistaking Giovanni Allevi’s gift for a hook—his music is playful, romantic, skittish, always beautiful. This album, both solo and with sumptuous orchestral accompaniment, features stunning miniatures such as stand-out track “Flowers”, the Michael Nyman-inspired “Oxygen”, and “No More Tears”, a brilliant homage to JS Bach. The larger-scale, virtuosic “Piano Concerto No. 1” is an ingenious mix of 19th-century composer Saint-Saëns and jazz artist Michel Legrand, a combination of sophistication and grace, with a modern twist. And that’s exactly what Equilibrium balances so well.