[saint.panda]

I'll start off with my favourites:


Bill Evans - Portrait in Jazz
(Superb Autumn Leaves, Someday My Prince Will Come, Peri's Scope)

Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby
(A classic; excellent atmosphere)

Bill Evans - You must believe in Spring
(An even more melodic Bill Evans than Waltz for Debby; mesmerizing beauty)

Oscar Peterson - The Good Life
(Lots of drive and vigor; my favourite Peterson album; Wheatland is an amazing first track)

Keith Jarrett - Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings
(Expensive but well worth it)

Keith Jarrett - Still Live
(The Keith Jarrett Trio live and they caught a really good day)

Keith Jarrett - Standards Trio Vol.1 & 2 (2 CDs)
(Excellent rendition of standards)

Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Somewhere Else Before
(The Swedish piano trio at its best; sort of a best-of for the American market; a good regular album is "Seven Days of Falling")

Edit to add another one:
Thelonoius Monk Plays Duke Ellington
(More elegant than usual but still Monkian)

 

[Doc Sarvis]

I second all of yours and add:

Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard.

It's the companion disc to Waltz for Debby. Both are 100% essential.

I've not heard a bad Evans or Jarrett trio album.

Edit: I just realized you live in Zurich - Two hours from one of my favorite spots on Earth (Lauterbrunnen Valley). Hope you get a chance to get over there!

 

[Alu]

I'll just add

Evans - New Jazz Conceptions
Evans - Quintessence (A child is born...wow)

to that list. Some of my first Jazz records ever.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc Sarvis I second all of yours and add: Evans - Sunday at the Village Vanguard. It's the companion disc to Waltz for Debby. Both are 100% essential. I've not heard a bad Evans or Jarrett trio album. Edit: I just realized you live in Zurich - Two hours from one of my favorite spots on Earth (Lauterbrunnen Valley). Hope you get a chance to get over there!

Oh yes, Sunday at the Village Vanguard is a wonderful album.

I haven't been to Lauterbrunnen yet but I've seen some beautiful pictures of it. I'll have to go there one of these days. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Lindy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda I'll start off with my favourites: Bill Evans - Portrait in Jazz (Superb Autumn Leaves, Someday My Prince Will Come, Peri's Scope) <snip>

saint.panda, I like your list. Here are 25 of my favorites. A couple of them are solo piano, but most are piano-trio. (I've posted this list before, but it seems appropriate again for this thread)

I think we have pretty similar tastes in this kind of music.

I like your selection of the OP trio "The Good Life" -- also one of my favorites. If you don't already have them (I'm guessing you do, though!), check out "Nigerian Marketplace" and "Live"

Also, if you don't have any Billy Taylor, you've *got* to check his stuff out also!

Listed alphabetically by performer.
Performer, Title, Year, Label

1) The Ray Brown Trio, “BAM BAM BAM”, 1988, Concord
2) The Ray Brown Trio, “Summer Wind -- Live at the LOA”, 1988, Concord
3) Dave Brubeck, “Time Out”, 1959, Columbia
4) Dave Brubeck, “A Dave Brubeck Christmas”, 1996, Telarc Jazz
5) Michel Camilo, “Thru My Eyes”, 1997, Tropi Jazz
6) Bill Evans, “Alone”, 1968, Verve
7) Bill Evans, “Waltz for Debby”, 1961, Riverside
8) Bill Evans, “Sunday at the Village Vanguard”, 1961, Riverside
9) Bill Evans, “Consecration I”, 1980, Timeless
10) Tommy Flanagan, “Alone Too Long”, 1984, Denon
11) Herbie Hancock, “Maiden Voyage”, 1965, Blue Note
12) Gene Harris, “Listen Here!”, 1989, Concord
13) Fred Hersch, “I Never Told You - Hersch Plays Mandel”, 1995, Varese Sarabande
14) Ahmad Jamal, “But Not for Me”, 1958, Chess
15) Keith Jarrett, “Koln Concert”, 1975, ECM
16) Thelonious Monk, “Brilliant Corners”, 1956, Riverside
17) Oscar Peterson, “The Good Life”, 1973, Pablo
18) Oscar Peterson, “Nigerian Marketplace”, 1981, Pablo
19) Michel Petrucciani, “Pianism”, 1985, Blue Note
20) Bud Powell, “The Amazing Bud Powell Vol. 1”, 1949, Blue Note
21) Don Pullen, “Breakthrough”, 1986, Blue Note
22) Art Tatum, “Complete Capitol Recordings Vol. 1”, 1949, Capitol
23) Billy Taylor, “Solo”, 1988, Taylor-Made
24) Billy Taylor, “White Nights & Jazz in Leningrad”, 1988, Taylor-Made
25) McCoy Tyner, “Double Trios”, 1986, Denon

 

[catachresis]

Plays Duke Ellington - Thelonious Monk

Art of the Trio - Brad Mehldau

 

[Asterix]

Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen 'The Trio' (I think it's in Chicago)

that and 'The Good Life' are the best Trio stuff I've heard.

Although Bill Evans truly amazes me, he has not quite laid the grooves in my brain quite like OP can.

 

[saint.panda]

A very helpful list, thanks Lindy! Actually, I've never heard anything by Billy Taylor but I certainly intend to do so now.

 

[actimation]

Bud Powell - Jazz Giant

Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby

These have frequently visted my cd player ever since I got them.

 

[burndtjamb]

Chick Corea Akoustic Band
"Chick Corea Akoustic Band" - 1989 (GRP)
with John Patitucci (bass) and Dave Weckl (drums)

Chick Corea New Trio
"Past, Present and Futures" - 2001 (Stretch Records)
with Avishai Cohen (bass) and Jeff Ballard (drums)

 

[Lindy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda I've never heard anything by Billy Taylor but I certainly intend to do so now.

I'm sad to say that he retired earlier this year -- just a few short months ago.

I think he wanted to leave while he was still playing at the top of his game. He had a farewell concert at Kennedy Center

This is the one to get IMO. It's $15 at billytaylorjazz.com -- and it says it comes autographed. Oh how I wish I could hear this CD for the first time again! What a treat that was.

Free download from Billy Taylor's web site: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

 

[saint.panda]

Thanks again! I just ordered White Nights and Jazz through the homepage and it appears they are considerate enough to include shipping to Europe as well.

I really liked the free mp3, which has an spiritual and at certain moments a hymn-like quality to it while maintaining the groove. I'm very much looking forward to the Cd.

 

[Old Pa]

Nice list. You might also enjoy (although it's not only trios) Nat King Cole's "Jazz Encounters".

 

[Lindy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda Thanks again! I just ordered White Nights and Jazz through the homepage and it appears they are considerate enough to include shipping to Europe as well. I really liked the free mp3, which has an spiritual and at certain moments a hymn-like quality to it while maintaining the groove. I'm very much looking forward to the Cd.

Excellent! I hope you like it. Let us know what you think about it. It's one of my all time favorites.

 

[robert]

Eric Watson - Silent Hearts

wish i could get his other stuff, but not here in the USofA. and he's American, although in Paris, last i knew.

edit: remiss to forget
Horace Tapscott - Dark Tree
not strictly a trio, since John Carter plays on some tracks. and being a hatOLOGY disc, likely to be available in Europe.