But Romance the album (as well as "Romance," the song) has lasting as well as immediate impact. Again and again, Kuhn conjures up what the Brazilians call saudade -- a sweet sadness, a wistful blues -- for instance, with a deceptively casual sweep of the keys evoking the gulf between love’s glory and later rueful reflections. George Mraz’s elegant bass and Al Foster’s brushes on drums and cymbals murmur with Kuhn as his musical pals, interacting with his story-telling, and Kuhn responds in turn. "The essence of trio playing," the pianist asserts, "is conversation."

Just so, trumpeter Tom Harrell's "Visions of Gaudi," named for the great Spanish architect, areises from the ensemble's scaffolding like a spire that probes the sky with queries to which there are no answers.

And in "Visions," as everywhere Kuhn unveils his passion for the significant detail that informs a musical narrative's exact intent. Hear how Kuhn accompanies himself; how he spreads ideas smoothly across registers, automatically adept with whichever hand he needs; how he proposes tempo perfectly, and never indulges in display that’s merely flash. The pianist brings humor, tension, and depth to "There Is No Greater Love" almost as asides, but it's just these dimensions he uses to refresh the standard’s scope and persuasive power.

"The Pawnbroker," Kuhn says, "is exquisite, and needs only to be played as it's written." Still, he invests "The Pawnbroker" with feeling that doesn't appear on any printed page -- and he appreciates that few players could address its upper reaches as Mintzer does.

Steve Swallow's plaintive "Remember," Kuhn's vivid "Clotilde," the Lady Day-linked "Good Morning, Heartache," and the pianist's nimble, fearless "Looking Back" -- each is so effortlessly enspirited and distinctly etched that one may be lulled into overlooking the art and heart that comprise such music.

But . . . listen again. Steve Kuhn and his colleagues are singing songs of love, so sublime they may revive in bloom and glory your own unforgettable seasons of romance.

-- Howard Mandel