Willie Jones Iii at @exuberance

The piano trio is the nuclear essence of jazz. Alone together piano, bass and drums provide a complete unit for a limitless range of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic textures and explorations.

Great piano trio leaders are most often pianists—Hank Jones, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Tommy Flanagan, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Barron, Fred Hersch. Sometimes drummers make great trio leaders. Roy Haynes, Jeff Hamilton, Lewis Nash and our own Arturo Stable come to mind.

Enter Willie Jones III, a consummate drummer who, over the past 20 years, has powered many a piano trio with Hank Jones, Cedar Walton, Bill Charlap, Eric Reed, Cyrus Chestnut, Helen Sung, and Joey Alexander among them. He’s recorded with Horace Silver, Roy Hargrove, Arturo Sandoval and Herbie Hancock. He’s worked with @exuberance alumnae Russell Malone and Elio Villafranca. ...

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The piano trio is the nuclear essence of jazz. Alone together piano, bass and drums provide a complete unit for a limitless range of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic textures and explorations.

Great piano trio leaders are most often pianists—Hank Jones, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Tommy Flanagan, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Barron, Fred Hersch. Sometimes drummers make great trio leaders. Roy Haynes, Jeff Hamilton, Lewis Nash and our own Arturo Stable come to mind.

Enter Willie Jones III, a consummate drummer who, over the past 20 years, has powered many a piano trio with Hank Jones, Cedar Walton, Bill Charlap, Eric Reed, Cyrus Chestnut, Helen Sung, and Joey Alexander among them. He’s recorded with Horace Silver, Roy Hargrove, Arturo Sandoval and Herbie Hancock. He’s worked with @exuberance alumnae Russell Malone and Elio Villafranca.

My story: Cedar Walton was headlining the 2014 Jazz Cruise. Sadly, he died a couple of months prior to the sailing. Benny Green assumed the piano chair and I got to hear four 90-minute sets of Cedar Walton tunes with Benny and Walton’s trio—David Williams on bass and Willie Jones III on drums—one of the greatest and most joyful listening experiences of my life.

Willie Jones channels and extends the tradition of Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Tootie Heath and Billy Higgins—what Jones calls “real jazz.” This is the music some of us live for. Hope that includes you.

Joining Mr. Jones are Jeb Patton on piano and the estimable David Wong on bass. Not to be missed.

Willie Jones III Trio
8-11pm Saturday, August 19
1220 N. Mascher St. (steps away from the Girard Ave. El stop) [map]

We contemplate a $25 donation to support the musicians and provide appropriate refreshments.

Click RSVP to this invitation to get on the guest list. Invitation expires when we reach 70 attendees. Looking forward to seeing you.

Matt Yaple

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@exuberance parties at Matt’s are by invitation only to provide a dignified, comfortable and acoustically ideal setting for worthwhile art and ideas. Cellphones and other devices are to be holstered during the performances. Between sets, conviviality rules.

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