Trio 3 was a collaborative American jazz group whose members were saxophonist

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black Art ...

, bassist

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey. Career Early in his career, Workman worke ...

, and drummer

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographe ...

. The trio existed for roughly 35 years: the musicians first played together in the late 1980s, and the group disbanded in February 2022. During this time they recorded eleven albums, some of which featured guest pianists. The musicians described their sound as "futuristic music within the idiomatic continuum of jazz."

History

The group had its origins in the late 1980s. According to Oliver Lake, the three musicians began hiring each other for their projects, leading to the formation of a trio. Lake recalled: "We did it so much, we decided it made sense for us to have one group. It was a business decision, but also a musical decision." Cyrille and Lake appeared on Workman's 1986 album ''

Synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors ** Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organ ...

''; Lake and Workman appeared on Cyrille's 1992 album ''

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''; and Cyrille and Workman appeared on Lake's 1993 album ''

Edge-ing ''Edge-ing'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Oliver Lake recorded in 1993 for the Italian Black Saint label.

''. They recorded their first album as a trio in 1992 with ''

Live in Willisau ''Live in Willisau'' is the debut album by Trio 3 (free jazz trio), Trio 3, a jazz group consisting of saxophonist Oliver Lake, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded in 1992 at the Swiss Jazz Festival Willisau and rele ...

''. Trio 3's musical outlook was derived in part from the notions of stylistic cross-fertilization that were common attributes of both the New York

loft jazz Loft jazz (or the loft scene or loft era) was a cultural phenomenon that occurred in New York City during the mid-1970s. Gary Giddins described it as follows: " new coterie of avant-garde musicians took much of the jazz world by surprise... ey inte ...

scene of the 1970s and organizations such as Chicago's AACM and St. Louis's BAG. Workman summed up his attitude: "You'd say, 'I like this idea; I can learn a lot from it—what can I do with this personally?'" At the same time, despite the fact that each of the musicians had extensive experience as a group leader, the trio was, according to Cyrille, "truly leaderless in terms of one person playing and directing it." Four pianists (

Irène Schweizer Irène Schweizer (born 2 June 1941) is a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. She was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. She has performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as performing as part of the Feminist Improvis ...

Geri Allen Geri Antoinette Allen (June 12, 1957 – June 27, 2017) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. In addition to her career as a performer and bandleader, Allen was also an associate professor of music at the University of Pittsburgh ...

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, and

Vijay Iyer Vijay Iyer (born October 26, 1971) is an American composer, pianist, bandleader, producer and writer based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, histori ...

) appeared as guests on Trio 3 albums. Workman described these encounters as "a nice junction," and commented that the general idea was to find "a chordal person whose concept isn't dogmatic, but can be loose enough to encompass what we're doing and maneuver within our space—and for us to do the same for that person." The group's final performance took place in February 2022 at Dizzy's Jazz Club in New York City. Ken Micallef, writing for ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'', called the concert "an unfettered gift."

Discography

*''

'' (Dizim, 1997) *''

Encounter Encounter or Encounters may refer to: Film *''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar * ''Encounter'' (2013 film), a Bengali film * ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film * ''Encounter'' (2021 film), a British sci-fi film * ...

'' (Passin' Thru, 2000) *'' Open Ideas'' (Palmetto, 2002) *'' Time Being'' (Intakt, 2006) *'' Wha's Nine: Live at the Sunset'' (Marge, 2008) *'' Berne Concert'' with

(Intakt, 2009) *'' At This Time'' with

(Intakt, 2009) *'' Celebrating Mary Lou Williams–Live at Birdland New York'' with Geri Allen (Intakt, 2011) *'' Refraction – Breakin' Glass'' with

(Intakt, 2013) *''

Wiring Electrical wiring is an electrical installation of cabling and associated devices such as switches, distribution boards, sockets, and light fittings in a structure. Wiring is subject to safety standards for design and installation. Allowable ...

'' with

(Intakt, 2014) *'' Visiting Texture'' (Intakt, 2017)

References

{{Reflist 1980s establishments in New York (state) 2022 disestablishments in New York (state) Free jazz ensembles American jazz ensembles Avant-garde jazz ensembles Musical groups established in the 1980s Musical groups disestablished in 2022 American musical trios Intakt Records artists