We've reviewed many trumpet-bass-drums trios over the years. Here's a new update on some recent material with this line-up. Styles are completely different, yet all of high quality within their subgenre. Interestingly enough, three of the trios presented here are initiated or led by bassists: John Edwards, Joe Morris and Linda May Han Oh.
John Edwards, Luis Vicente, Vasco Trilla - Choreography Of Fractures (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2025)
"Choreography Of Fractures" is my personal favourite in this list. It's a trio of British bassist John Edwards, Portuguese trumpet player Luis Vicente and Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla. Their sound is totally open-ended and improvised. The overall tone set by the trumpet is one of melancholy and deep sadness. Vicente’s playing stretches into sensitive, resonant depths, while Edwards and Trilla intensify the sense of desolation through delicate accents and scattered sonic details that form a fractured world struggling to unify.
Vicente and Trilla have released several albums before, either in duets "A Brighter Side of Darkness", "Made of Mist", or in larger ensembles "L3" with Yedo Gibson on sax, or "Live At 1st Spontaneous Music Festival", on "Muracik", "Dog Star", "Chaos And Confucius", "Gravelshard", and I've probably missed a few. The collaboration with Edwards is a winning situation. The music remains wholly unpredictable; even within its sensitivity, it can become harsh and ferocious without growing louder, relying instead on sheer expressive force. Edwards delivers remarkable tone and presence, both in plucked passages and bowed ones. Its relentless intensity is phenomenal.
This is surely one for my end-of-year-list. I'll share also a video below of a performance by the trio. I'm hesitating to share it because the album is even better.
Joe Morris, Tyshawn Sorey , Peter Evans - Comprehensive (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2025)
"Comprehensive" is presented by Joe Morris on bass, Tyshawn Sorey on drums and Peter Evans on trumpet and piccolo trumpet. It is equally outstanding and highly recommended. None of the three musicians need an introduction. Morris and Sorey have performed together before in various bands, Sorey and Evans did on Ingrid Laubrock's "Serpentines". I'm not aware of Morris and Evans collaborating before, yet the interaction works well.
The trio offers four expansive, fully improvised pieces—fascinating, kaleidoscopic sonic visions. The music moves with complete openness, shifting effortlessly from subdued, muted textures to playful staccato exchanges, often in an instant. Evans’ remarkable range and timbral acrobatics are nothing short of spectacular, sparking genuine delight (at least for this listener), yet always remaining fully integrated within the group sound. Morris and Sorey inhabit this terrain with equal assurance, showcasing not only their deep listening but, above all, their creativity in shaping a coherent and intensely engaging musical experience.
The music was recorded on January 30, 2025 at The Bunker in Brooklyn
Russ Johnson, Christian Weber & Dieter Ulrich - To Walk On Eggshells (ezz-thetics, 2025)
This trio is less adventurous yet highy enjoyable. Russ Johnson is on trumpet, Christian Weber on double bass and Dieter Ulrich on drums.
The three musicians are in great shape, as are their boppish tunes and improvisations. The nine tracks are almost equally composed by each band member, showing the total lack of hierarchy in this ensemble. It is fun, upbeat, joyous, energetic and infectious, and alternated with some sad pieces, such as "For A.R" - presumably a tribute to Aderhard Roidinger, an Austrian bassist and graphic designer, and one-time teacher of Christian Weber - and the beautifully old-fashioned and bluesy "Confession".
The recording already dates from December 2009, recorded in a studio in Zürich, but it gets its release only now. Like his "Live At The Hungry Brain" released last year, yet also recorded in 2018, it takes some time before Johnson's trumpet trios get released. Let's hope we do not have to wait that long for the next one.
It's a studio album, and this is music that will only come fully to its right when listened to in a live setting. The recording quality is excellent, as is the playing.
Linda May Han Oh, Ambrose Akinmusire & Tyshawn Sorey - Strangen Heavens (Biophilia Records, 2025)
One more trumpet trio album with Tyshawn Sorey on drums, but now with Linda May Han Oh on electric and acoustic bass and Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet. The drummer and bassist have also collaborated on Vijay Iyer's "Uneasy" and "Compassion".
Akinmusire was member of the trio on Linda Oh's debut album "Entry" from 2008. Sorey and Akinmusire collaborated on John Escreet's "Consequences".
On this album they are in superb form. All the pieces are composed by Linda Oh, with the exception of "Skin" by Geri Allen and "Just Waiting" by Melba Liston.
The title refers to the saying that human beings tend to choose a familiar hell over a strange heaven. Oh explains: "We all experience how easy it is to be lulled into the comfort of something that may actually be quite negative and detrimental to our well-being. We see that often in our daily lives, but I also see it in politics and in grander aspects of humanity.”
All compositions come with a background story or specific inspiration or tribute: "“Living Proof” draws from inspirational stories of self-improvement, in particular that of her own mother. “Acapella” is a reflection on Joni Mitchell’s “The Fiddle and the Drum". “Home,” “Paperbirds,” “Folk Song” and “Working” are elements in an informal suite, inspired by images from Australian author Shaun Tan’s wordless graphic novel "The Arrival".
The music itself is first-rate, more boppish than free, yet the real delight lies in hearing three remarkable musicians giving everything they have. Akinmusire’s radiant tone and stylistic range make every trumpet line a pleasure. Oh’s bass work shines throughout—anchoring the music, steering the compositions, and delivering solos of real character. Her choice of a chordless trio opens the space beautifully, giving her instrument greater presence and allowing the narrative of her music to emerge with striking clarity. Sorey, predictably superb, continues to show why he’s in such high demand, contributing yet another stellar performance to an already prolific couple of years.
And now for something completely different. Or not. The trio of Royal Flux brings an interesting inter-stylistic or eclectic combination of improvised music with a "nu jazz" sound and funky rhythms. The trio are Sarah Kramer on trumpet, flugelhorn, effects, percussion and sounds, voice, Joe Berardi on drums, percussion, electronics and sounds, and Jorge Calderón on bass and percussion.
Kramer released her debut album, "Home", in 2013 and was mostly active as a session musician, and probably best know from the trumpet part in Leonard Cohen's "Dear Heather". The rhythm section is also relatively new to me, with little references of other output.
Listeners drawn to Nils Petter Molvær or late-period Miles Davis may take to this album. It doesn’t strive for grand artistic statements; it’s simply fun. The sound may come across as somewhat synthetic—perhaps too tidy or programmatic for this blog’s usual tastes—but its cool vibe and infectious energy make it worth your attention.
Some will say that a cornet is not a trumpet, but we do not go into too much semantics here and add this great trio too, with Kirk Knuffke on cornet, Stomu Takeishi on bass, and Bill Goodwin on drums.
As we've heard on previous work by Knuffke, he loves that jazz and musical tradition of the United States, especially the deeply emotional and rhythmic bluesy sound of the south. On the thirteen relatively short tracks - all between 3 to 5 minutes - he brings easy to memorize tunes and themes that are often infectious. Knuffke's vision is that he's "concerned with making beautiful music. Even when the music is free and avant-garde, I want it to reach into people’s hearts".
On some tracks, Knuffke sings, in a bluesy baritone voice, something he's done before on other albums, and it works well to provide some variety to the music. Variety is also brought by the three "Gong Suites", freely improvised pieces that are sprinkled among the other tracks, minimal and percussion-driven.
Bill Goodwin also recites "A Divine Image", a William Blake poem.
A Divine Image
Cruelty has a Human Heart
And Jealousy a Human Face
Terror the Human Form Divine
And Secrecy, the Human Dress
The Human Dress, is forged Iron
The Human Form, a fiery Forge.
The Human Face, a Furnace seal'd
The Human Heart, its hungry Gorge.
This is music without pretence, with the only ambition to develop high quality music that listeners enjoy.
