2013's
Trilogy showcased the engaging collaboration between pianist
Chick Corea, bassist
Christian McBride and drummer
Brian Blade. Virtuoso leaders in their own right,
Corea,
McBride, and
Blade found common ground as a trio, exploring a mix of sophisticated standards as well as originals culled from
Corea's extensive book. The album cracked the Top Ten of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and earned two Grammys, including for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. The super-trio's follow-up, 2018's
Trilogy 2, features further in-concert performances captured during their various tours between 2010 and 2016 in places like Ottawa, Bologna, Zurich, and St. Louis. Once again, the performances reveal yet more layers to their intuitive, almost psychic interplay. Part of what makes
Corea,
McBride, and
Blade's work together so compelling is how rhythmically kinetic it is.
McBride and
Blade are both immensely rhythmic, muscular performers who punctuate every phrase and accent with deft articulation. They are a perfect match for
Corea, who balances his deeply layered chordal harmonies with ear-popping rhythmic motifs and architectural lines that dance and spin right along with his bandmates. It's a tactile sound that elevates standards like their opening take on "How Deep Is the Ocean" and their swaggeringly loping rendition of
Thelonious Monk's "Crepuscule with Nellie." Elsewhere, they offer similarly bewitching versions of
Corea's 1968 classic "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" and an expansive rendition of his 1973
Return to Forever Latin fusion number "500 Miles High." We also get a propulsive reading of
Steve Swallow's "Eiderdown," an equally brisk take on
Miles Davis' "All Blues," and a vibrant closing interpretation of
Billy Strayhorn's "Lotus Blossom." ~ Matt Collar