Of all of the variations of jazz groups, the trio has always been my favorite. I can be happy with a quartet, and sit through a quintet, but when it reaches the sextet level and beyond, I am totally non-plussed. Not only do these three trios exhibit my favorite jazz group, but they also represent my favorite combination of trio instruments – piano, bass, and drums: The Oscar Peterson Trio (Night Train, expanded edition – 1963), The Brad Mehldau Trio (The Art Of The Trio, Vol 3 – 1998), and my absolute favorite, The Bjorn Svenson Trio ( From Gagarin’s Point Of View – 1999). Admittedly, Night Train is a bit exhaustive, but . . . patience brings joy. While you give a listen, I’ll hope that my faves will rub off on you. Enjoy.
Jazz, jazz, and nothing but jazz. Well, mostly.
copyright 2023 jblackstarr for SMOOTHE
Listen on SPOTIFY:
Listen on TIDAL:
The Oscar Peterson Trio (Night Train)
https://embed.tidal.com/albums/3701015?layout=gridify
The Brad Mehldau Trio: (The Art of Trio, Vol. 3)
https://embed.tidal.com/albums/3463132?layout=gridify
The Bjorn Svenson Trio (From Gagarin’s Point of View)
Smoothe 
This is such a cool post. It states the idea clearly and concisely and then let’s the reader decide based on some really fantastic examples. Well done. Thanks for pointing out these examples. I do love trios, in fact, not only in jazz. In my opinion, some of the finest rock bands are trios as well; Rush being among the best of the best in that category. I realise you may not be a fan of rock music, but I stand by my idea that trios work in jazz as well as some other genres.
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Thanks for stopping by and for the insightful comments. I am, indeed, a fan of rock. In fact I’m a former dippy hippie from the sixties. Your comments are always appreciated, so feel free to stop by again. I have been on hiatus for a bit but new posts are upcoming.
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Nice! I was thinking of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience for rock trios as well. Those might resonate with you too. I look forward to the upcoming posts.
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Great examples! I’m not a fan of YouTube, but I will certainly keep up via the blog. Looks like you’ve got some interesting posts that I can barely wait to dive into. Do you have a “subscribe” button for the blog?
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I’d love to know your thoughts on our blog posts. Thank you.
When you open one of my posts, you should see a follow button at the top right, beside the blog’s name. Here’s a post I published a few days ago. I chose this one to share with you, knowing your a fan of trios: Happy Birthday Oscar Peterson:
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Wow! Staples once had an ad campaign that had an “Easy” button and used the phrase “That was easy”. Goes perfectly with following your blog. Don’t know how I passed that by! Thanks. I shall explore your posts in the days ahead and say thanks in advance for the posts that catch my eye – there are many already.
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Fantastic! It’s so cool to be able to chat with other music fans about music. I really look forward to your feedback.
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