The Conventional Trio Format: Guitar-Bass-Drums

[NSJ]

Maybe it's a phase, but lately, I've been, in terms of listening, finding this format to be utterly uninspiring, tiring, and a bit jaded. Augmented by horns and piano? Totally different story.

I just put on the new record by a local guy--who is excellent--and his trio, playing a record of originals. And I had to turn it off.

Sometimes, I find that guitarists go into monophonic mode when playing in a trio--single note lines. It's hard to listen to, hard to get inspired by.

What are some of your favorite conventional trio records?

Those are the moments I'd rather listen to solo guitar by a player who really knows the harmonic and polyphonic aspects of the instrument.

[pierre richard]

Oscar Peterson---Joe Pass---Ray Brown...

time on the instrument...

[jtizzle]

My favorite trio record is Lage Lund - Small Club Big City.
Every time I play this record, I find new interesting things I for some reason hadn't heard before. Lage does exactly the opposite of monophony on here, he really gets a crazy good chord workout going here, and a lot of points having two voices moving around at the same time. To me this is the best guitar trio album since Jim Hall - Live, and I do like this one better, but Jim Hall's is a classic, and I'm sure without that one, Lage's probably wouldn't exist.
Adam Rogers has a pretty cool trio record with John Patitucci and Clarence Penn, Sight. A few standards and a few originals, I really dig what they do with the time, but I find it to get boring after a while, he is really guilty of doing the monophonic stuff, and I'm not a huge fan. It's still a great record though, the stuff they do with I Hear a Rhapsody is insane!

[3625]

IMO, to play with just bass & drums, in order to really pull it off so the listener is thoroughly engaged - that's basically master level stuff. Easier to be part of an ensemble (horn, piano etc) so the listener isn't fatigued and doesn't lose interest quickly by having more variety for the mind/soul to attend to.

Two of my favourite trio albums that are predominantly single line: Jimmy Raney's 'But Beautiful' and Grant Green 'Green Street'. To me those albums are basically perfect, classic jazz guitar.

On the other side of the spectrum, polyphonically speaking I dig Bill Frisell's album with Ron Carter and Paul Motian - awesome record.

I have to admit though, I'm not a fan of trios where the guitarist clutters it up too much with chords, especially if they're struggling by going for all these chord shapes and they're not in the pocket, I see that around a bit. Kurt's one of the few guys who can play lots of harmony and it's right in there - he's unbelievable at that. That's my preferred style of his to listen to, personally.

[3625]

jtizzle - +1 on Jim Hall Live. Will check out that album of Lund's, been meaning to get some of his stuff lately, not a player I've listened to that much before.

[docbop]

Actually I recently got into listen piano/guitar less sax trios, where the sax is carrying the melodies and implying harmony with their lines.

For me solo and duo guitar seems to be more interesting than trio. Seems like once the drums get in there the guitarist start to sacrifice dynamics.

[3625]

Seems like once the drums get in there the guitarist start to sacrifice dynamics.

Drums and an archtop together are very problematic IMO. I wish they made a drumkit that was literally half as loud (including cymbals). I think that's one of the reasons Julian Lage's trio uses a percussionist instead - it allows the dynamics to be there.

Oh yeah, Julian Lage trio as well - guitar wise really interesting, single line, harmony, contrapuntal stuff etc.

[kamlapati]

Jim Hall Live! of course.

3625, find a drummer with a cocktail kit and brushes. But the biggest problem is that the guitarist needs to be so good to keep it interesting.

[Petimar]

I always find ensembles with chording players more interesting. Once in a while go chord less but after a short time it seems less interesting.

just an opinion

[jtizzle]

Well while we're talking about chordless trios:
FLY (Mark Turner, Jeff Ballard, Larry Grenadier) is a GREAT sax trio.
Chris Potter also does sax trios very often
Ralph Lalama does some incredible sax trio stuff. I've checked out some clips from his Smalls Live release, and it's killin'!

Back on the guitar topic, I've been trying to find some clips of Lage Lund's recording, can't find anything. I really recommend it, though, I really stand by the fact that it's the best guitar trio release since Jim Hall's.

[Eddie Lang]

What are some of your favorite conventional trio records?

Any of the recordings by the first Nat King Cole Trio with Oscar Moore.

Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis (also the OP trios with Barney Kessel or Irving Ashby on guitar).

Jimmy Giuffre 3 (Giuffre, Bob Brookmeyer and Jim Hall)'s album titled Trav'lin' Light.

The album Something Tender by Bud Freeman with George Barnes and Carl Kress.

[3625]

Yeah Barney on pollwinners, one of the albums I got into when I started playing jazz. Barney's great at incorporating chords/chord melody over a beat - on that album his concept of guitar is very complete, it's got a good positive strong vibe between all three players. Classic jazz guitar album.

[pierre richard]

I almost forgot about that one...Poll Winners...

Barney was a great player...I learned much listening to him and studying his transcriptions..

I have an original LP of that poll winners...play it not as often as I should...

time on the instrument..

[rkwestcoast]

Jim Hall Live - I got the extended version recently (Live vols 2-4) with the additional 3 cds of music and the whole set stands upto repeated listening

Plus would also really rate:
John Scofield - Enroute - again a live album

Jonathan Kreisberg - Trioing

Barney Kessell Trio - Live in Los Angeles at PJs Club - particularly for the 1st track Slow Burn

Kenny Burrell - Live at the Village Vanguard vols 1&2

Pat Martino - Live - particularly for Sunny

Wolfgang Muthspiel - Real Book Stories

Ray Brown, Russell Malon & Monty Alexander (album of same name telearc 2002)

Adam Rogers - Time & the Infinite

Joe Pass - Intercontinental

Plus John Abercrombie - Structures & Bill Frisell, PAul Motian & Ron Carter - the 2006 ECM album

This is turning into a killer playlist for the ipod!!!

& Bireli Lagrene Standards

& Bobby Broom Plays for Monk

& Finally anything by ZZ Top (seriously - live they are the bomb in terms of blues & bar room grooves)

[Greentone]

I started playing jazz because of the Pollwinners albums. The Guiffre Trio albums with Jim Hall were great. My favorite setup is piano, guitar, bass.

[cosmic gumbo]

Any Gateway album - Abercrombie, Holland, DeJohnette

My fave Metheny is still Bright Size Life w/Jaco. Most any guitar trio stuff with Jaco on bass is pretty badass.

[jtizzle]

Speaking of Metheny, his 99-00 live album is pretty good.

Also, what about organ trios? (Guitar, organ, drums)
That's basically a modified guitar bass drum trio. Pat Martino does some cool stuff with Joey Defrancesco.
My favorite is Mike LeDonne, Peter Bernstein, and (usually) Joe Farnsworth. They usually play as a quartet with Eric Alexander, but I've heard them as a trio, great stuff.

[cosmic gumbo]

Guitar, organ, drum trios qualify as a quartet.

[Bigmagic]

Any Gateway album - Abercrombie, Holland, DeJohnette

My fave Metheny is still Bright Size Life w/Jaco. Most any guitar trio stuff with Jaco on bass is pretty badass.

I was thinking all 3 musicians have to be very good for a Guitar Trio to succeed. But then this thought hit me.. Joe Pass and NHOP? It would have been easy for them to add a drummer!

[nado64]

Speaking of Metheny, his 99-00 live album is pretty good.

Also, what about organ trios? (Guitar, organ, drums)
That's basically a modified guitar bass drum trio. Pat Martino does some cool stuff with Joey Defrancesco.
My favorite is Mike LeDonne, Peter Bernstein, and (usually) Joe Farnsworth. They usually play as a quartet with Eric Alexander, but I've heard them as a trio, great stuff.

Your favorite organ trio albums

[eddy b.]

Ed Bickert "out of the past", "third floor richard", "this is new"( with lorn lofsky, so not really a trio but my god everyone needs this recording).Of all three out of the past specifically Nica's Dream is pretty frickin' inspired.

[ecj]

Another vote for Jim Hall Live!, who set the standard. Pass on Intercontinental is awesome. Metheny's Trio 99>00 is a favorite. Metheny does a great job of breaking up the song choices by bringing in different instruments and approaches (of course). So, you get his heavily Hall-inspired straight-ahead sound, some new-agey acoustic stuff, and some weirder approaches.

I've always dug Hendrix's early work, too. As elementary as the vocabulary is, he had some really interesting ideas for how to expand the role of the guitar sonically. I guess since he's singing, it's technically a quartet, though.

[Greentone]

+1 on the organ trios. Hammond B3 and guitar are like hand/glove. Add a horn or a sensitive drummer and you have a great trio. The Hammond work featuring Grant Green or Wes Montgomery or George Benson is awesome.

I have worked both sides of this street (as the guitarist and as the B3 player). It is incredible.

[Greentone]

I almost forgot Kenny Burrell! Wow! He may be the BEST.

[whatswisdom]

Bright Size Life. Ouestion & Answer. Rejoicing.