Are we living in the Golden Age of the Jazz Piano Trio?

[Musicophile]

Piano trio jazz is one of my favorite forms of music (An Oscar Peterson trio album was actually my first or second Jazz albums ever).

 

Of course, one could easily live with the great output of Geniuses like Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, plus Ahmad Jamal, McCoy Tyner, Erroll Garner etc. and would not need any contemporary contribution to this genre at all, and still have a lifetime of musical enjoyment.

 

However, it still feels like we are living right now in the Golden Age of the Jazz piano trio. In the last 15 years we’ve seen the emergence of such an amazing number of great trios that it is really tough to follow them all, hence this thread.

 

Obviously, given the relatively young age of most of these recordings, and the care that was given to many, there are a lot of very well recorded albums there, and these trios and their studios were among the first to switch to high-res recordings as well, so this is happy territory for the Computer Audiophile.

 

What triggered this explosion of great trios? Was it the late Esbjörn Svensson, who brought progressive and rock elements into this format and made it attractive for a younger crowd starting back in 1990? Was it the great success of the “Art of the Trio” sets by Brad Mehldau from 1995 onwards? Whatever it was, it just feels great to be where we are.

 

This thread is to capture and share great discoveries in the Jazz Piano trio, and I’m happy to start with my personal favorites.

 

I’ll just list stuff I either have or have heard elsewhere, in alphabetical order, with the only condition of being trio and after 1995, and highlight some of my personal favorites with stars. And just for the sake of simplicity; I just leave out Keith Jarrett and EST

 

• Alboran Trio (just amazing how good they are)

o Meltemi

o Near Gale (*****)

 

• Stefano Battaglia

o Bill Evans compositions

o Songways

 

• Richard Beirach

o Elm

 

• Avishai Cohen

o At Home

o Gently Disturbed

o Night of Magic

 

• Anat Fort Trio

o And If

 

• The Bad Plus

o Give

• [em]

o Live

 

• Claudio Filippi trio

o Facing North

 

• Aaron Goldberg

o Worlds

 

• Giovanni Guidi Trio

o City of Broken Dreams

 

• Tord Gustavsen Trio

o Changing Places

o The Ground (*****)

 

• Julia Hülsmann Trio

o The End of a Summer

o Imprint (****)

 

• Kari Ikonen Trio

o Bright

 

• Vijay Iyer trio

o Historicity

 

• Benedikt Jahnel trio

o Equilibrium

 

• Bob Mahmet Trio

o Impromptu

 

• Helge Lien Trio (great!)

o Hello Troll (*****)

o Natsukashii

o To the Little Radio

 

• Brad Mehldau

o The Art of the Trio I-V (I really like no. III)

o Anything goes

o Day is Done

 

• Shai Maestro Trio (one of the greatest young talents)

o Shai Maestro Trio (*****)

o The Road to Ithaca

 

• Giovanni Mirabassi (one of my absolute favorite artists, I discovered here at this forum)

o Architectures (*****)

o Live at the Blue Note Toyko (****)

o Out of Track (****)

o Terra Furiosa

 

• Enrico Pieranunzi (another of my personal favorites)

o Ballads (*****)

o Deep Down (*****)

o Dream Dance

o The Chant of Time

o First Song

o Life at the Village Vanguard

o Permutation

o Seaward

 

• Bobo Stenson Trio

o Cantando

o Goodbye

o Serenity

o War Orphans

 

• Baptiste Trotignon

o Fluide

 

• Trio Töykëat

o G’Day

o High Standards

o Kudos

 

• Craig Taborn (not really my cup of tea, but worth mentioning)

o Light Made Lighter

 

• Tingvall Trio

o In Concert (****)

o Norr

o Skagerrak

o Vattensaga

 

• Marcin Wasilewski Trio

o Faithful (****)

o January

o Trio

 

• Phronesis

o Walking Dark (****)

o Alive

 

• Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen

o Reis/Demuth/Wiltgen

 

• Rusconi

o Revolution

 

• John Taylor Trio

o Rosslyn

 

• Christian Wallumrod

o No Birch

[Musicophile]

Musicophile .. wonderful idea for a thread! I own only a couple of the selections included in your original post and just ordered 5 from Amazon. You have marvelous taste sir

 

Pianist extraordinaire Emmet Cohen comes to mind (thanks again to Richard). On Facebook he often mentions playing with his trio (hope that qualifies him).

Emmet Cohen is great, I agree.

 

Please share when you get your little package from the big river what you ordered and how you like it.

[Musicophile]

A few more worth consideration:

 

 

Bill Charlap Trio

- Written In The Stars

- Live At The Village Vanguard

 

Alan Pasqua/Dave Carpenter/Peter Erskine

- Standards

- Live At Rocco

 

Fred Hersch Trio

- Alive At The Vanguard

I know now of the above except for Fred Hersch. Just what I excepted, this thread will lead to more music! Great!

[Musicophile]

Trio Jérôme Beaulieu

- L'Homme sur la Lune

 

Trio Jerome Beaulieu

 

The website is in French though

 

Alain

Merci Alain, je vais regarder!

[Musicophile]

They're not exactly mainstream, but The Bad Plus deserve a mention here.

You'll find "Give" in the list above (sorted under B, maybe that's why you missed it), although I'm a bit torn on The Bad Plus .

 

In my personal opinion, their best album I've heard is "For All I Care", but this is not a pure trio album, so I didn't list it. There's some other stuff of them that is not really my cup of tea. But fully agree, they need a mention.

[Musicophile]

- Julia Hülsmann Trio: Imprint

- Brad Mehldau: The Art of the Trio 1-4 (5 was a bit expensive so I'll look elsewhere)

 

I've been listening to Brad Mehldau quite a bit lately via Pandora, etc. to become more acquainted with his music. Your recommendations came at a perfect time.

Julia Hülsmann is great, and Imprint is to my ears her best album. I had the pleasure of seeing her live on the tour where she launched this album.

 

For Brad Mehldau, note that the entire box is available as well:

 

Amazon.com: The Art of the Trio: Recordings 1996-2001: Music

 

Brad Mehldau: The Art of the Trio - Recordings 1996-2001

[Musicophile]

Ok, just one more. I’m most familiar with Aaron Diehl from his recent quartet release ‘The Bespoke Man’s Narrative’, on which he plays a sublime rendition of Ellington’s composition, ‘Single Pedal of a Rose’ (probably one of the most beautiful pieces of music I know). However, he also has a fine trio release from 2012, which makes him eligible for this thread. I think this guy truly talented. Give a listen if you have a chance.

 

Aaron Diehl Trio

- Live At The Players

Nice one. I like the Bespoke Man, so this sounds interesting.

[Musicophile]

Hello,

 

May I suggest you Hiromi Uehara !!!

 

 

Udayan

While I agree that Hiromi is a fantastic pianist, her style often isn't my cup of tea, that's why I didn't list her. But I agree she belongs in this thread.

[Musicophile]

Hello,

Wonderful idea to start that kind of thread. Maybe would be also nice to put which ones are in hi rez and really benefit from that.

 

One of my favs are:

 

Vassilis Tsabropoulos, Arild Andersen & John Marshall - Achirana

Vassilis Tsabropoulos, Arild Andersen & John Marshall - Triangle

Marcin Wasilewski Trio - January

Anat Fort Trio - And If

Anat Fort Trio - A Long Story

Tord Gustavsen Trio - The Ground

 

This on is not Trio, but Qartet, but latest Julia Hulsmann In Full View album is excellent.

I need to check out Mr Tsabropoulos (Greek I presume?).

[Musicophile]

Don't forget about this one: Torque Trio - Osmosis

 

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However, more or less many of these new piano trios sounds like post-E.S.T heritage, do you agree?

Didn't know this one. Will check it out.

 

On EST, indeed, they've been hugely influential, in modernizing the concept of the piano trio, and bring in some new influences.

[Musicophile]

Another new discovery, very beautiful, from Switzerland this time.

 

Stefan Aeby Trio: Are You? (from 2010)

 

[Musicophile]

+1 for Marcin Wasilewski Trio, but with the January preference - better sonics and more relaxed performance IMHO. Been listening him over few day lately.

 

Marcin Wasilewski Trio:

o Faithful

o January (****)

By the way, I forgot to mention the 2004 debut "Trio", also on ECM. Probably because it is my least favorite of the three.

[Musicophile]

Just took delivery of "Architectures" by the Giovanni Mirabassi Trio.

 

On the recommendation of Musicophile, I ordered it unheard. It wasn't available on MOG for a test drive. Ordered the CD through Amazon, from a 3rd party, across the pond a few days ago. Pleasantly surprised at how soon it arrived. Anyway, just finished ripping it, and am listening through the headphones as I write this. Outstanding! Once again, this thread is giving me lots of good music that I otherwise would not have known about. Thank you!

 

I have more on the way! Muhwahahahahaha! (Mad scientist laugh!)

I'm still surprised amazing artists like the Alboran Trio and Giovanni Mirabassi don't get more international press attention. Maybe being Italian doesn't help. But anyhow, I'm glad others start to appreciate them.

 

And to give credit where credit belongs: I myself discovered Mirabassi on this forum following a recommendation by Alex (27Globes).

[Musicophile]

In addition to:

 

• Julia Hülsmann Trio: Imprint

• Brad Mehldau: The Art of the Trio 1-4 (purchased used on Amazon)

 

I also purchased:

 

• Shai Maestro Trio

• Enrico Pieranunzi: Deep Down

• Enrico Pieranunzi: Ballads

 

They have all been in constant rotation and I'm honestly thrilled with each one. I can't even say I have a favorite but I'm fast becoming a Mehldau and Pieranunzi fan. Next up will be Mirabassi I believe, although I can't seem to find "Architectures" at a reasonable price. I wanted to start with that particular recording because it seems to be a favorite here .. another recommendation would be helpful

 

Edit: Mirabassi's "Live at the Blue Note Tokyo" or "Out of Track" possibly (thought I should check the original post again, thanks Musicophile).

Architectures is indeed difficult to find as it is one of his early discs and seems to be out of print, therefore you may have to pay crazy prices (right now $50 and more on Amazon.com). As much as I like this album (my personal favorite from Mirabassi), this is just nuts.

 

His more recent trio albums like Terra Furiosa, Live at the Blue Note Tokyo, and Out of Track are a bit easier to find (e.g. on Qobuz) and also really good.

 

The more I think about it, the relatively poor availability (which is really stupid in the times of modern download sites) of the albums by Mirabassi and the Alboran Trio, especially outside of Europe, probably contributes to their lack of reputation.

[Musicophile]

Architectures is indeed difficult to find as it is one of his early discs and seems to be out of print, therefore you may have to pay crazy prices (right now $50 and more on Amazon.com). As much as I like this album (my personal favorite from Mirabassi), this is just nuts.

 

His more recent trio albums like Terra Furiosa, Live at the Blue Note Tokyo, and Out of Track are a bit easier to find (e.g. on Qobuz) and also really good.

 

The more I think about it, the relatively poor availability (which is really stupid in the times of modern download sites) of the albums by Mirabassi and the Alboran Trio, especially outside of Europe, probably contributes to their lack of reputation.

By the way, you can listen to his albums in streaming on Mirabassi's own website, e.g.:

 

Giovanni Mirabassi

[Musicophile]

Another Polish trio I have on my tentative shopping list is this one:

 

Marek Jakubowski Trio: My Own | Marek Jakubowski Trio – Télécharger et écouter l'album

 

Marek Jakubowski: My Own (24/44).

 

Does anybody have it yet?

[Musicophile]

Have you checked it it is really 24 bit?

 

No, but Qobuz has a Studio Master guarantee.

[Musicophile]

May I add a few that you probably will not easily hear about:

 

Bernardo Sassetti Trio

Nocturno - Bernardo Sassetti | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic

 

The late Sassetti...great trio, superb play, in a lyrical mood.

 

Here, playing "Motion", another great album

 

In Motion it's based on the trio, but not limited to it, as you hear other instruments and sounds, in a very evocative work of the motion pictures world...

Yet another Italian, after Mirabassi and Alboran. Interesting! Thanks for sharing.

[Musicophile]

Nope, but I've just ordered the CD waiting for delivery.

Please keep us posted.

[Musicophile]

Can't .. stop .. ordering ..

 

• Helge Lien Trio - "Hello Troll"

• Stefan Aeby Trio - "Are You.. ?"

• Giovanni Mirabassi - "Architectures" (yes, I paid too much for this!)

Aeby has just published a new album, I may end up getting this as well:

 

Stefan Aeby Trio - Utopia

[Musicophile]

May I add a few that you probably will not easily hear about:

 

Bernardo Sassetti Trio

Nocturno - Bernardo Sassetti | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic

 

The late Sassetti...great trio, superb play, in a lyrical mood.

 

Here, playing "Motion", another great album

 

In Motion it's based on the trio, but not limited to it, as you hear other instruments and sounds, in a very evocative work of the motion pictures world...

Just listening to Nocturno. Very nice!

 

By the way, need to correct myself, the guy is actually not Italian but Portuguese, and I only just read he passed away in an accident in 2012 at the age of 41. What a loss.

[Musicophile]

Would someone please be so kind and share the proper pronunciation of Stefan Aeby. "Aeby" in particular.

 

Just ripped "and you...?" btw.

Well he's Swiss, so the pronunciation is particularly tricky.

 

Stefan is pronounced something like steffun (the "e" open, similar to "bet", and the "a" similar to "fun").

 

Aeby would be somewhat close to Aybee.

[Musicophile]

Can I recommend the Marc Cary Focus Trio?

My favorite being "Focus" and "Four Directions", and "Focus Trio Live 2009".

Interesting, never heard of him. Need to check it out.

[Musicophile]

A new discovery for me:

 

Espen Eriksen Trio: What Took You So Long (2012).

 

Recommended.

 

[Musicophile]

Do you like this album? Here is another: You Had Me At Goodbye by Espen Eriksen Trio | GubeMusic

I do indeed, so thanks for sharing the second album.

 

A pity I didn't know before the album is available in highres, it sounds really great in redbook already.