Jazz trio
Encyclopedia
The term "piano trio" in jazz usually refers to a group comprising a pianist
, a double bass
player and a drummer
. The pianist is usually considered the leader of these trios, and trios are usually named after their pianist. Famous examples include the Bill Evans
Trio with Scott LaFaro
on bass and Paul Motian
on drums; and the Vince Guaraldi
trio, featuring Fred Marshall and Jerry Granelli.
Nat King Cole
formed a piano-guitar
-bass trio in 1937 when he relocated to Los Angeles. This format was also used by Art Tatum
, Ahmad Jamal
, Vince Guaraldi, and Oscar Peterson
. Jamal, Guaraldi, and Peterson all later led trios with the traditional format of piano, bass, and drums.
Another fairly common variant is the organ trio
, comprising electric organ
(typically a Hammond
B-3), drums, and usually electric guitar
. The bassist
is excluded, and the organist instead plays the bassline
with his or her left hand (on a keyboard) or their feet (on the bass pedalboard). Organists Jimmy Smith
and Jack McDuff
and guitarist Wes Montgomery
are among the musicians who have worked in this format. The original line-up of the Tony Williams Lifetime
featured Williams (drums); John McLaughlin
(guitar); and Larry Young (organ).
Some jazz trios:
The American group Medeski Martin & Wood
offers an organ trio variation whereby the guitarist is replaced by a bassist (Chris Wood
).
recorded in a trio format, featuring himself (clarinet
), Teddy Wilson
(piano) and Gene Krupa
(drums).
In 1948, pianist Herman Blount (later known as Sun Ra
) briefly played in a trio with Coleman Hawkins
(saxophone
) and Stuff Smith
(violin
), dispensing with a conventional rhythm section. Jimmy Giuffre
's 1958 trio also lacked bass or drums, featuring Giuffre (saxophone and clarinet), Jim Hall
(guitar) and Bob Brookmeyer
on valve trombone
. In 1986, Hall was involved in the Power of Three album; his fellow musicians were Wayne Shorter
(saxophones) and Michel Petrucciani
(piano). In the 1960s, saxophonist Anthony Braxton
led a trio featuring Leroy Jenkins
(violin) and Wadada Leo Smith
(trumpet
).
In 1949, Red Norvo
formed a trio consisting of himself on vibraphone
, plus guitar and bass; the best-known line-up featured Tal Farlow
and a young Charles Mingus
.
In 1957, saxophonist Sonny Rollins
recorded the album Way Out West with bassist Ray Brown
and drummer Shelly Manne
. Players who used this piano-less format in the 1960s include Ornette Coleman
(with David Izenzon
and Charles Moffett
); Albert Ayler
(with Gary Peacock
and Sunny Murray
) and Peter Brötzmann
(with Peter Kowald
and Sven-Ake Johansson
).
The free jazz guitarist Derek Bailey played in a number of trios, including Joseph Holbrooke, with drummer Tony Oxley
and Gavin Bryars
on bass, and Iskra 1903, with Barry Guy
(bass) and Paul Rutherford
(trombone).
The early-80's group Codona
had a line-up of Don Cherry
(trumpet) and two percussionists, Collin Walcott
and Nana Vasconcelos
.
From the 1980's, drummer Paul Motian
frequently recorded in a trio with Bill Frisell
(guitar) and Joe Lovano
(saxophone).
The 1990s trio Clusone 3 comprised Michael Moore (sax/clarinet), Han Bennink
(drums) and Ernst Reijseger
(cello
).
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, a double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
player and a drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
. The pianist is usually considered the leader of these trios, and trios are usually named after their pianist. Famous examples include the Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
Trio with Scott LaFaro
Scott LaFaro
Rocco Scott LaFaro was an influential jazz bassist, perhaps best known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio.-Biography:...
on bass and Paul Motian
Paul Motian
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...
on drums; and the Vince Guaraldi
Vince Guaraldi
Vincent Anthony "Vince" Guaraldi was an Italian American jazz musician and pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements and for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip...
trio, featuring Fred Marshall and Jerry Granelli.
Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
formed a piano-guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
-bass trio in 1937 when he relocated to Los Angeles. This format was also used by Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
, Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal is an innovative and influential American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. According to Stanley Crouch, Jamal is second in importance in the development of jazz after 1945 only to Charlie Parker...
, Vince Guaraldi, and Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
. Jamal, Guaraldi, and Peterson all later led trios with the traditional format of piano, bass, and drums.
Another fairly common variant is the organ trio
Organ trio
An organ trio, in a jazz context, is a group of three jazz musicians, typically consisting of a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player. In some cases the saxophonist will join a trio which consists of an organist, guitarist, and drummer, making it a quartet...
, comprising electric organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
(typically a Hammond
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
B-3), drums, and usually electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. The bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
is excluded, and the organist instead plays the bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
with his or her left hand (on a keyboard) or their feet (on the bass pedalboard). Organists Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
and Jack McDuff
Jack McDuff
"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...
and guitarist Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
are among the musicians who have worked in this format. The original line-up of the Tony Williams Lifetime
The Tony Williams Lifetime
The Tony Williams Lifetime was a jazz-rock fusion group led by jazz drummer Tony Williams.-Original line-up:The Tony Williams Lifetime was founded in 1969 as a power trio with John McLaughlin on electric guitar, and Larry Young on organ. The band was possibly named for Williams' debut album as a...
featured Williams (drums); John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
(guitar); and Larry Young (organ).
Some jazz trios:
- Brad Mehldau Trio is composed of Brad MehldauBrad MehldauBrad Mehldau is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with many renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Larry Grenadier, Peter Bernstein, Jeff Ballard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt...
Piano, Larry GrenadierLarry GrenadierLarry Grenadier is an American jazz double bassist.His father, Albert, was a trumpet player, and his two brothers, Phil and Steve, would eventually play trumpet and guitar respectively. Grenadier too began on trumpet when he was 10 years old. His father taught him to read music and gave him his...
Bass and Jeff BallardJeff BallardJeffrey Scott Ballard is a former Major League Baseball pitcher, playing from to .Following his career, Ballard returned to his hometown of Billings, where he has become an instrumental part of local American Legion Baseball programs...
Drums.
- The Bad PlusThe Bad PlusThe Bad Plus are a jazz trio from the United States, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, originating from Minneapolis, MN.-History:...
is composed of pianist Ethan IversonEthan IversonEthan Iverson is a pianist, composer, and critic best known for his work in the postmodern jazz trio The Bad Plus, with bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King....
, bassist Reid AndersonReid AndersonReid Anderson is a bassist and composer originally from Minnesota. Anderson is best known for his work in The Bad Plus with pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer Dave King...
, and drummer Dave King. The group is known for their original takes on rock classics.
The American group Medeski Martin & Wood
Medeski Martin & Wood
Medeski Martin & Wood is an American jazz trio formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski on keyboards and piano, Billy Martin on drums and percussion, and Chris Wood on double bass and bass guitar....
offers an organ trio variation whereby the guitarist is replaced by a bassist (Chris Wood
Chris Wood (jazz musician)
Christopher Barry Wood is an American bass player, best known for playing with the avant-garde jazz-funk trio Medeski Martin & Wood .-Biography:...
).
Less common formats
As early as 1935, Benny GoodmanBenny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
recorded in a trio format, featuring himself (clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
), Teddy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...
(piano) and Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
(drums).
In 1948, pianist Herman Blount (later known as Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
) briefly played in a trio with Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
(saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
) and Stuff Smith
Stuff Smith
Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith , better known as Stuff Smith, was a jazz violinist. He is known well for the song "If You're a Viper".-Biography:...
(violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
), dispensing with a conventional rhythm section. Jimmy Giuffre
Jimmy Giuffre
James Peter Giuffre was an American jazz clarinet and saxophone player, composer and arranger. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.-Biography:Born in Dallas, Texas, of Italian ancestry,...
's 1958 trio also lacked bass or drums, featuring Giuffre (saxophone and clarinet), Jim Hall
Jim Hall (musician)
James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
(guitar) and Bob Brookmeyer
Bob Brookmeyer
Robert Brookmeyer is an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer.-Biography:Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre...
on valve trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
. In 1986, Hall was involved in the Power of Three album; his fellow musicians were Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
(saxophones) and Michel Petrucciani
Michel Petrucciani
Michel Petrucciani was a French jazz pianist.-Biography:...
(piano). In the 1960s, saxophonist Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
led a trio featuring Leroy Jenkins
Leroy Jenkins
Leroy Jenkins was a composer and free jazz violinist and violist.Jenkins was involved in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians while a public school teacher in Chicago. He co-founded the Creative Construction Company with Anthony Braxton and others...
(violin) and Wadada Leo Smith
Wadada Leo Smith
Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is a trumpeter and composer working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation.-Biography:...
(trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
).
In 1949, Red Norvo
Red Norvo
Red Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
formed a trio consisting of himself on vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, plus guitar and bass; the best-known line-up featured Tal Farlow
Tal Farlow
Talmage Holt Farlow was an American jazz guitarist. Nicknamed the "Octopus", Farlow's extremely large hands spread over the fretboard as if they were tentacles. He is considered one of the all-time great jazz guitarists. Michael G...
and a young Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
.
In 1957, saxophonist Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
recorded the album Way Out West with bassist Ray Brown
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
and drummer Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing...
. Players who used this piano-less format in the 1960s include Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
(with David Izenzon
David Izenzon
David Izenzon was an American jazz double bassist.Izenzon began playing double bass at age twenty-four. He played locally in his hometown of Pittsburgh before moving to New York City in 1961...
and Charles Moffett
Charles Moffett
Charles Moffett was a free jazz drummer.Moffett began his musical career as a trumpeter before switching to drums. He is probably best known for his part in Ornette Coleman's trio with David Izenzon in the 1960s. He also appeared on other important albums of that period, such as Archie Shepp's...
); Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
(with Gary Peacock
Gary Peacock
Gary Peacock is an American jazz double-bassist.-Biography:After military service in Germany, in the early sixties he worked on the west coast with Barney Kessel, Bud Shank, Paul Bley and Art Pepper, then moved to New York. He worked there with Bley, the Bill Evans trio , and Albert Ayler's trio...
and Sunny Murray
Sunny Murray
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray is one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.-Biography:...
) and Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann is a German artist and free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough, lyrical timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.-Early life:...
(with Peter Kowald
Peter Kowald
Peter Kowald was a German free jazz musician.A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with a large number of European free jazz and American free-jazz players during his career, including Peter Brötzmann, Irène Schweizer, Karl Berger, Fred...
and Sven-Ake Johansson
Sven-Åke Johansson
Sven-Åke Johansson is a Swedish drummer and composer associated with free jazz and free improvisation. He was in the Globe Unity Orchestra and played with German reedist Alfred Harth and Belgian pianist Nicole Van den Plas in E.M.T..- External links :*...
).
The free jazz guitarist Derek Bailey played in a number of trios, including Joseph Holbrooke, with drummer Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley is an English free-jazz drummer and one of the founders of Incus Records.-Biography:Tony Oxley was born in Sheffield, England. A self-taught pianist by age eight, he first began playing the drums at seventeen. While in the Black Watch military band from 1957 to 1960 he studied music...
and Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars
Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism.-Early life and career:Born in Goole, East...
on bass, and Iskra 1903, with Barry Guy
Barry Guy
Barry John Guy is a British composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras in the UK and Europe...
(bass) and Paul Rutherford
Paul Rutherford (trombone player)
Paul William Rutherford was an English free improvising trombonist.-Biography:Born in Greenwich, South East London, Rutherford initially played saxophone but switched to trombone...
(trombone).
The early-80's group Codona
Codona
Codona was a free jazz and world fusion group which released three self-titled albums on the ECM label in 1978, 1980 and 1982. The trio consisted of Don Cherry, Collin Walcott, and Nana Vasconcelos....
had a line-up of Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
(trumpet) and two percussionists, Collin Walcott
Collin Walcott
Collin Walcott was a North American musician. He was a student of Ravi Shankar and Vasant Rai. Collin expanded the role of the sitar in western music. Walcott studied music and ethnomusicology at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and at The University of California at Los Angeles...
and Nana Vasconcelos
Naná Vasconcelos
Naná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....
.
From the 1980's, drummer Paul Motian
Paul Motian
Stephen Paul Motian was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and composer of Armenian extraction.He first came to prominence in the late 1950s in the piano trio of Bill Evans, and later led several groups...
frequently recorded in a trio with Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell
William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
(guitar) and Joe Lovano
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
(saxophone).
The 1990s trio Clusone 3 comprised Michael Moore (sax/clarinet), Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....
(drums) and Ernst Reijseger
Ernst Reijseger
ERNST REIJSEGER Cellist and composer Ernst Reijseger plays the cello from the age of seven and began as a performing cellist and improviser in 1969. From that time on he developed his own musical vocabulary...
(cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
).