Best Jazz trio ever?

[chenGOD]

I would have to say
Oscar Peterson (piano)
Ed Thigpen (drums)
Ray Brown (bass)


what an amazing trio of musicians. they just had this amazingly psychic connection.

other people?

[okieinpain]

1. the police

.

[JM]

2. Loved Oscar Peterson...

...he was a great musician.

I was in jazz ensemble in high school with an awesome piano player named Henry. As I recall, Henry's dad was a pro musician and knew Oscar Peterson. I also recall Henry as saying Oscar would stay at their house when in Chicago. Anyway, every once in a while, Henry would come to class completely bleary eyed, sit at the piano, and play something, beaming about what Oscar had taught him the night before.

Later,
JM

[chenGOD]

3. Wow does that story ever make me green....

Oscar Peterson is my hero.
To get lessons from him would be craziness itself.

[44wax]

13. Oscar Peterson Trio Live at Montreaux

Put on one of my dad's jazz records because I tired of listening to Kind of Blue for the thousandth time and flipped out. What swinging, beauty and power.

[JM]

21. Do you know what year?

I am curious, since I played both at the Montreaux and North Sea festivals in '83. We met Dizzy at the North Sea. He was an unbelievable character.

Later,
JM

[trof]

4. The Nairobi Trio.

Don't know their names.
;-)

[Richardo]

27. HA! Trof

good one. :-)

[leftofthedial]

5. Bill Evans Trio

Bill Evans
Scott LaFaro
Paul Motian

[chenGOD]

6. Yes Bill Evans...:)

good choice, Paul Motian is a groovy drummer for sure.

[leftofthedial]

7. this particular trio was amazing

They came together like magic, but Scott LaFaro was killed in a car accident, if I recall correctly.

Bill had some other great players in his trio at times too.

[mitchum]

12. Yep, that's the one

[bif]

24. Agreed. Bill Evans all the way.

For my money, this was the most beautiful trio of all time. Second choice would have to be Tommy Flannagan, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash.

[Bossy Monkey]

8. Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Arthur Taylor

preferably before Paul discovered the bow

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. I'm with you

and Side by Side... Peterson and Itzak Perleman is one of my all time favorite jazz cd's ( of course add Grady Tate to that line-up)

[Sweetpea]

10. That is a toughy

I like Ahmad Jamals early trio as well.

[GumboYaYa]

22. Me too.

His latest stuff is damn good as well. The stuff in between is so-so IMO.

[rog]

11. Wes

Wes Montgomery - guitar
Melvin Rhyne - Hammond B-3
George Brown - drums

;-)

.rog.

[newyawker99]

17. Hi rog!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[rog]

19. Thanks for the welcome!

Hey, ny'er99 ...

Thanks! Actually I've been reading here for almost a couple of years now, and became a paying member several months ago. I still read more than I post, but DU continues to be a primary source of information about what's going on in the world, and what our "representatives" are up to. Such a large community of folks who are paying attention, many of whom are active in large and small ways, has to make a difference sooner or later. I'm grateful that y'all are here.

.rog.

[DancingBear]

14. A couple more to think about,

but I think Peterson's trio sets the benchmark. So let's call these trios worthy of consideration:

Wynton Kelly, w/Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb
(not too shabby either when a certain Mr. Montgomery used to sit in)

from "recent times":

Don Pullen, w/James Genus and Louis Nash
(I really like to listen to Pullen)

Quick jazz anecdote - I used to work for a company whose owner was an aspiring jazz musician. Rumor had it that on occasion jazz artists (who were either in town or lived in the area) would stop by, as there was a demo room/recording studio on premises. Well, the four of us the entire company (out of 65) who were jazz fans wiggled an invite to the next session, if there even existed such a thing. Sure enough, about a month later we were asked if we wanted to stay late and "listen to some folks". About 7 p.m. or so the lights go on in the demo room, revealing an acoustic bass, piano, drum kit, and an assortment of analog mikes. Within minutes, Elvin Jones sits down at the drums, followed by McCoy Tyner at the piano. Woody Shaw puts his trumpet down on the stool, and gives a hug to Joe Henderson and his tenor. Dave Holland snuck in and chatted for a bit, and Jaki Byard (I think?) watched from
the gallery. They played for about an hour or so to four of the happiest jazz fans you'd ever seen.

[chenGOD]

15. That's a great story....:)

and nice choice on the trio as well.

How about the Thelonious Monk Trio

Thelonius(p), Art Blakey(d) and Gene Ramay(b)


I have a little jazz story to tell as well, but not quite as cool as yours. When I was in Fukuoka, Japan (another story altogether), I was working as a DJ/bartender in a bar. One quiet night I'm there with one other barman, and there maybe 4 people in the place. This other foreign guy walks in, orders a drink, we start chatting. He asks where I'm from (Edmonton, Alberta), and says "Oh I've been there, I played at the jazz festival there (we have a pretty decent jazz festival every year there). We get talking about jazz, turns out that he's the pianist for Michael Brecker. So he says "I'll put you and a friend on the guest list for tomorrow night at the Blue Note". I get to the Blue Note, with my Japanese date (she was impressed to be on the Blue Note guest list..:) ) and we got to watch Michael Brecker and his quartet tear it up for an hour. Then after the show the pianist Joey Calderazzo says "Hey come back stage and meet the guys". so I got to hang out with Michael Brecker for like 30 minutes or so. Damn. They were all a bunch of cool guys too.

[grasswire]

16. anything with Teddy Wilson

and did Lionel Hampton have a trio?

[JM]

20. Not sure about Lionel Hampton, but...

...I did have the honor of meeting him. He came to our high school for a master class and "discussion". During the discussion portion, PBS was filming, and it was hilarious. Our band director was so full of himself, Lionel kept correcting him while they were taping. We had a phrase for the rest of school "well, actually Rog..."

Later,
JM

[Kbowe]

18. Nat King Cole Trio

Smooooooooooooooooth!

[ProfessorGAC]

23. That's A Pretty Good One

Oscar was a genius piano player, for sure. I don't know that i'd pick anybody better, since i generally don't like trios. But, one with piano and bass is better than the Coltrane trio of piano, sax and drums. (His wife was the piano player.)

I'm more a quartet, quintet guy. But, anything with Oscar and Ray Brown in it is an exception to my rule.
The Professor

[chenGOD]

25. Yes indeed. And you gotta give props to Ed Thigpen...

generally underrated among jazz drummers I find, maybe cause he was playing with two geniuses. But he was an outstanding drummer, plus he and Ray Brown had a crazy conection going on (you'd have to, to keep the time rock steady at the pace Oscar Peterson liked to play at sometimes...).

Quartets and quintets are nice of course, I mean Thelonious had a crazy quartet when it was him and Johhny Griffith, and Roy Haynes on the drums. and of course you know, Parker, Rollins, Coltrane all had great quartets/quintets too. I have a special fondness for trios for some reason, I think it's the space that the muscians have, and when you have amazing musicians like Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen at the helm, the limits are endless...:)

But here's to good music in any form...:)

[ProfessorGAC]

28. Indeed!

And thanks for mentioning Monk. He is my single greatest influence as a piano player. Monk, Bill Evans, Tyner and Taylor. I can barely think of anyone else who really influenced the sound i hear in my head. I admire the technique and ability of lots of other piano players, but they didn't make me hear music any differently. Those four did.
The Professor

[chenGOD]

29. Influences for me (also a pianist)...

Oscar Peterson- to aspire to his level of skill and knowledge of music.
Thelonious- to have his sense of harmony would be amazing
and...
although it seems a strange choice, Harry Connick Jr.- he has a great feel for music. His soundtrack to When Harry met Sally was brilliant.

Of course, Evans,Tyner and Taylor (I assume you mean Cecil yes?) are brilliant in their own right...

Other favorites: Duke Jordan, Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck and Herbie Hancock.

[ProfessorGAC]

32. Yes, Cecil

I heard Harry on either Letterman or O'Brian just a short while back. He's REALLY good. Better than i expected, given his fascination with being Frank Sinatra for a while there.

He sounds influenced by Tyner and Monk, too!

I like Brubeck's music, but am not influenced by his playing style. His chording is a little too blocky for my taste. They're good full multitonal harmonies, but it ends up sounding overly structured and not very adventerous. But, the songs are excellent and terrifically arranged.

Oscar's a little too melodic for me. That's certainly not a bad thing, but as a Monk guy, i'm more inclined to pushing the edges out and worrying less about melody. I like dissonance! Oscar's technique is incredible though. Maybe the best in jazz ever.

Corea and Hancock are faves of mine too (especially Herbie), but i heard both of them for the first time in my teens, when i was already playing like i play. Besides, Herbie is a Monk guy, but a little sweeter melodically. He's an interesting rhythm guy, too. Chick reminds me more of Oscar. Technique is impeccable, but what he hears in his head interests me less than someone like Herbie or Keith Jarrett.

Different strokes for . . .

The Professor

[chenGOD]

33. Yes absolutely different strokes...

It's nice to have a discussion like this, it's been ages since I heard one.

That's one of the reasons I like Harry Connick Jr actually, cause he's definitely got that Monk influence. His big band stuff is pretty sweet too.

Yeah Oscar is certainly much more melodic. To me the perfect pianist would be a combination of Oscar's skill and Monk's harmony.

Intersting that you would mention Jarrett. I've never been able to get into him much. Nor Joe Zawinul, who I've always just found too poppy (possibly I'm influenced by the instant association with Birdland).

[Coffee Coyote]

30. mmmmm Monk!

I love McCoy too! The Real McCoy is one of my top 10 or so jazz albums. :D

[kskiska]

26. The Nairobi Trio

from the old Ernie Kovacs show.

[Kazak]

31. Medeski, Martin, and Wood.

*shrugs*