Jazz Piano Trios

kafkapenguin

Senior Member
I love horns, love Diz and Byrd and Miles and Monk and all them horn blowing cats. Quartets, Quintets (Miles late Quintet is like the zenith for me!), Sextets, Big Bands etc. However I find that for the last 2 or so years my focus keeps zoning in on Piano Trios. There is just something totally magical about this combination of musicians. In a Trio everyone works off each other and lays down grooves to follow and seems to converse with each other in a mystical way. In a Trio everyone seems equally important to the conversation and I just can't get enough of it. ;) It is my goal,, and really the reason I have taken up drums to play in a Piano Trio. I am just wondering how many of you get to play in this form and if you do how often do you get gigs?

curious
russell
 
I also love jazz piano trios. I would truly love to play in one. Good luck on your goal. Peace and goodwill.
 
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I've played in the piano trio for the last 4 years. For the first 2 and 1/2 we had a weekly Sunday jazz brunch gig. It is definitely a very versatile setting that allows for a lot of communication and lends it self to playing many styles (but in a instrumental jazz setting).

Jonathan
 
I love piano trios. I love listening to them, and I love playing them. The majority of my jazz playing has been in trios over the years. There is something special about them. There's a degree of intimacy and sensitivity required that makes them extremely enjoyable for me.
 
I love piano trios. I'd love to play in one too. I'm working on my skills so that when I'm too old to play rock I can play with a jazz trio, haha. Seriously I'd love to play jazz but my vocabulary isn't there yet.
 
I love horns, love Diz and Byrd and Miles and Monk and all them horn blowing cats. Quartets, Quintets (Miles late Quintet is like the zenith for me!), Sextets, Big Bands etc. However I find that for the last 2 or so years my focus keeps zoning in on Piano Trios. There is just something totally magical about this combination of musicians. In a Trio everyone works off each other and lays down grooves to follow and seems to converse with each other in a mystical way. In a Trio everyone seems equally important to the conversation and I just can't get enough of it. ;) It is my goal,, and really the reason I have taken up drums to play in a Piano Trio. I am just wondering how many of you get to play in this form and if you do how often do you get gigs?

curious
russell

I got to play with a few piano trios when I was in college, and at the time we probably gigged maybe three times. But then I became acquainted with a talented keyboardist who negated the need of the bass player - his left hand was pretty incredible to begin with - but when he brought along a moog bass pedal once, it was incredible. He and I played pretty constantly for a couple of years, but we didn't always play jazz, we played a bit of everything and also sang. I'd love to be able to just play jazz all the time, but there isn't alot of money to be made from it, even in the country that spawned it.
 
I happen to love piano trio's as well. Some I'll add are: Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum (with Buddy), Ray Brown Trio, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Marian McPartland, Nat King Cole Trio, Hank Jones, etc....
 
I happen to love piano trio's as well. Some I'll add are: Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum (with Buddy), Ray Brown Trio, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Marian McPartland, Nat King Cole Trio, Hank Jones, etc....

the Ahmad Jamal trio with Vernel Fournier on drums blows me down bro

so damn good !!
 
I know this shows that I'm not as versed in jazz as most of the people who have posted in this thread, but I just watched A Charlie Brown Christmas with music by the Vince Guaraldi Trio with Colin Bailey on drums. I remember that being my introduction to jazz when I was a kid, and I specifically remember Bailey's brush work, as well as the way Guaraldi took complex chord structures and made them sound accessable to people who weren't familiar with jazz. I think that is because of the beautiful melodies he weaves into those chord changes.

Another piano trio I like is Tri-Fi. They have a few videos on youtube that are worth checking out, IMO.
 
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Now that I think about it, most of the jazz combos I listen to are four guys or more. I can watch Keith Jarrett Trio for days, but I don't really listen to them much.

Some trio stuff that I have heard and like include:

Thelonious Monk Trio (Max and Blakey play on the record)
Mingus, Powell, Max
Mingus, Duke, Max
Don Pullen, Gary Peacock, Tony Williams (Album is called New Beginnings)
The Bad Plus

*EDIT*

Haven't listened to it, but two McCoy Tyner records to check out:

Inception (w/ Art Davis and Elvin)
Reaching Fourth (w/Henry Grimes and Roy Haynes)
 
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Check out "For Diz" by Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Julio Baretto on drums. Killing stuff from all three of them. This isn't you're grandfather's piano trio. Although I do love me some Oscar, Art and folks from then as well.
 
I love the stuff Peter Erskine recorded with his trio's, especially with Alan Pasqua and Dave Carpenter. He sells his recordings through his website fuzzymusic.com, well worth a visit!

Live at Rocco's is my favourite.

Dutch
 
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