Pianist/composer Ovsepian, who has been a periodic visitor to the state in the recent years, practices a very subtle and sophisticated brand of jazz that often seems as if it is just barely containing its considerable energy beneath a cooled-down surface.

At the surface, there's a chamber like quality to his work, particularly when vocalist Monica Yngvesson wordlessly doubles the melodic lines of the leader and/or guitarist Mick Goodrick, as she did for much of the two-hour concert. Her cool soprano added immeasurably to the delicate, refined beauty of Ovsepian's carefully arranged compositions.

Underneath these emphatic thematic statements, bassist Josh Davis added plucked counterpoint and bowed tones to flesh out the music, while drummer Take Toriyama rattled and rumbled, providing a busy rhythmic engine to the quintet's balanced but flexible sound.

Much of the material offered was from the group's new CD “Sketch Book” and emphasized the varying rhythms, judiciously applied lyricism and carefully apportioned improvisational openings of Ovsepians' distinctive concept.

The leader's “Vana Linna” began the show, as it does the album, by establishing the quiet but focused sense of development that this band seems to relish. A haunting opening piano line led to a subtle vamp that signaled the entrance of Yngvesson's ethereal vocalizations, beneath which the pianist then soloed.

Seemingly over before it began, the piece nonetheless suggested a world of influences that the Armenia-born composer – trained in Estonia, Finland and the United States – brings to the musical table.

“Kings and Queens” followed with its Bach-like opening theme, played and sung in parallel by Ovsepian and Yngvesson leading to a much freer passage for piano.

When Ovsepian improvises on keyboard, his style has the sort of precise expansiveness of players such as Keith Jarrett, who rides upon uneven tempos, searching for moments to burst the bubble of form.

Ovsepian's music shifts easily between passages that reveal his classical technique and those that showcase his obvious affection for the interpretive opportunities of jazz.

A version of Dave Holland's “Jumpin' In” gave Yngvesson the chance to do a bit of improvising as well, as the lyrical direction she took warmed up the music in a welcome way. So did a later tune in a jazz/rock vein that gave the waif-like vocalist from Sweden the only actual words she sang all night.

Veteran Goodrick, who many remember from his days in Gary Burton's group, offered mostly “just” understated elegance to the program, but he did solo forcefully on bassist David' “V Baby” and on a piece of his own.

Certainly the senior member of this otherwise youthful group, Goodrick's presence may ultimately have a good deal to do with the future direction of the ensemble, if they continue to work together.

The standing ovation they received Saturday from a surprisingly large crowd shows there's a growing number who believe they should.