Trio X
TRIO X was a seminal American free jazz ensemble formed in 1998 by the visionary multi-instrumentalist and composer Joe McPhee. The group’s classic and enduring lineup featured Dominic Duval on double bass and Jay Rosen on drums.
More than a traditional leader-sidemen format, TRIO X was a deeply collaborative unit renowned for its profound empathy, spontaneous composition, and expansive sonic palette. Their music was a unique synthesis of raw energy and delicate lyricism, weaving together threads of free improvisation, blues, ballads, and deconstructed standards into a cohesive, emotional language.
They were celebrated for their intense live performances and an extensive discography, primarily on the CIMP and Cadence Jazz Records labels. TRIO X stood as a pinnacle of creative music in the late 1990s and 2000s, demonstrating that free jazz could be both fiercely exploratory and achingly beautiful, built on a foundation of immense trust and shared history. Their work remains a testament to the power of long-term musical conversation.
The Watermelon Suite
The Watermelon Suite
“McPhee is such a versatile player that sparks fly whether he blows a saxophone or trumpet. Here, he performs solely on the soprano sax, joined by bassist Dominic Duval and percussionist Jay Rosen. The mood is generally more pensive than to be expected, although fires are lit in a few of the pieces. McPhee shows himself to be a thoughtful, sensitive player, where every note counts and space is just as important.” -Steve Loewy, AllMusic
—
Recorded at The Spirit Room, Rossie, NY, May 26 & 27, 1998
Joe McPhee: Soprano Saxophone
Dominic Duval: Double Bass, Hutchins Bass
Jay Rosen: Drums, Percussion
The Sugar Hill Suite
The Sugar Hill Suite
“The musicians address a narrow window within a broad perspective. The recording as a whole describes a memory of the epitome of the Harlem Renaissance and how musicians came out of that time still longing for a recurrence of the dream of the focal point which was Sugar Hill- where resided the quintessence of the African-American culture…. one whole world within a geometry of avenues and streets.
The music possesses a substantive subtlety. It is taut and somewhat restrained, even though the fluidity of McPhee’s tenor lines overrides the tightness of the rhythm section. The music is soft even when it is loud. The music grows out of melody into abstraction easily, without fracture.” -Lyn Horton, jazzreview.com
—
Recorded at The Spirit Room, Rossie, NY, October 19, 2004
Joe McPhee: Tenor Saxophone
Dominic Duval: Double Bass
Jay Rosen: Drums
Roulette at Location One
Roulette at Location One
“These are pieces which the trio has often played before and they master the themes to perfection, yet still managing to bring them in a refreshingly innovative way. The same level, with recognizable themes throughout (Ellington, Monk), is kept up on the rest of the live album. The variation between serene pieces and intense passages, the technical mastery and the telepathic interplay of the three musicians, is absolutely stellar. The small crowd attending the performance is enthusiastic, and rightly so. This is what music is all about. Highly recommended.” -Stef, Free Jazz Blog
—
Soprano Saxophone, Trumpet [Pocket] – Joe McPhee
Bass – Dominic Duval
Drums – Jay Rosen
Design – Joe McPhee
Engineer [Recording] – Jim Staley
Photography by Jerry Starpoli
Producer – Bob Rusch, Joe McPhee
Recorded March 4, 2005 at Roulette at the Location One Gallery, NYC, NY.
On Tour… Toronto/Rochester
On Tour… Toronto/Rochester
“With the caliber of musicians comprising the trio, it is not surprising that there is a consistently high quality to these unusual interpretations, which, for the most part, merely hint at recognizable melodies. For example, “Monkin’ Around” skirts around “Blue Monk” without totally absorbing it, while “My Funny Valentine” just touches on the melody.” -Steve Loewy, AllMusic
—
Tracks 1 to 4 recorded March 25, 2001, St. George The Martyr Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Track 5 recorded March 24, 2001 at the Bug Jar, Rochester, NY
Joe McPhee: Saxophone
Dominic Duval: Double Bass
Jay Rosen: Drums, Percussion
Moods: Playing With The Elements
Moods: Playing With The Elements
“McPhee, Duval, and Rosen harbor analogous super powers and a shared heroic sense when it comes to seat-of-the pants improvisation. It’s all here, ripe and waiting for the hearing.” -Derek Taylor, All About Jazz
—
Bass – Dominic Duval
Drums – Jay Rosen
Tenor Saxophone, Flugelhorn, Pocket Trumpet– Joe McPhee
Recorded at The Spirit Room, Rossie, NY, Oct. 20 & 21, 2004.
Live on Tour 2010
Live on Tour 2010
“It is fascinating how Trio X treats this material. The musicians are masters of thematic improvisation, you can find the character of the motif in each phrase of the improvisation, very often either the rhythmic or the melodic shape remains – even if it is compressed or extended. The central motif is constantly altered and while listening to it from different perspectives, its meaning is permanently changed and renewed.” -Martin Schray, Free Jazz Blog
—
Bass – Dominic Duval
Drums – Jay Rosen (2)
Trumpet [Pocket Trumpet], Flugelhorn, Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Joe McPhee
Tracks 1-1 to 1-4: Sept. 28, 2010, Old Capital Recital Hall, Iowa City, IA
Tracks 1-6 to 1-9: Sept. 30, 2010, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL
Tracks 2-1 to 2-9: Sept. 29, 2010, Artscentral, Waukee, IA
Tracks 3-1 to 3-6: October 1, 2010, Kerrytown Edgefest, Ann Arbor, MI
Tracks 4-1 to 4-10: October 2, 2010, Joe’s Movement Emporium, Mt. Rainier, MD
Live on Tour 2008
Live on Tour 2008
“Even though the band has evolved over the years, it has stuck to its origins: to merge very forward-looking sounds with the sensitivity and the material of tradition, a little bit in the same concept as Albert Ayler, fusing “power and warmth”, as Bob Rusch writes in the liner notes.” -Stef, Free Jazz Blog
—
Double Bass – Dominic Duval
Drums – Jay Rosen
Flugelhorn, Trumpet, Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Joe McPhee
Disc 1: Oct. 14, 2008 at Donovan’s Pub, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
Disc 2: Oct. 15, 2008 at Edgefest, Ann Arbor, MI
Disc 3: Oct. 16, 2008 at Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL
Disc 4, tracks 1 to 4: Oct. 18, 2008 at Caspe Terrace, Waukee, IA
Disc 4, tracks 5 to 7: Oct. 19, 2008 at Redstone Room, Polyrhythms, Davenport, IA
Disc 5, tracks 1 to 5: Oct. 20, 2008 at Wooster St. Center, Bowling Green State Univ., Bowling Green, OH
Disc 5, tracks 7 to 9: Oct. 21, 2008 at Cafe Opus, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
Journey
Journey
“Much of the credit is due to Joe McPhee’s exquisite sense of melody: even when intense, he infuses every note with thoughtful control. The results reflect the group’s natural reticence and attraction to nuance, something that is especially evident on “Journey.” Overall, though, this is not music for the fainthearted, as delicacy is juxtaposed with aggressive expression. On “Albert’s Alto,” for example, the ghost of Albert Ayler is resurrected but never cloned, and his spirit absorbed and reincarnated. The closing “Amazing Grace,” in memory of Dominic Duval’s late wife, is perhaps the highlight of the album, a lovely, even exquisitely executed reflection of deeply held sentiments.” -Steve Loewy, AllMusic
—
Recorded at The Spirit Room, Rossie, NY, Feb. 6 & 7, 2003
Joe McPhee: Alto and Tenor Saxophone
Dominic Duval: Double Bass
Jay Rosen: Drums
In Black & White
In Black & White
“When they are “on,” the members of Trio X play music that is as good as it gets, and evidence of that is amply abundant here, with some important and exciting interpretations of the emotionally vibrant “God Bless the Child,” the Ayler-esque “Goin’ Home,” and the poignant “‘Round Midnight and Later.”… It is the melodies that shed the most light on the group’s strategies, which interpret and continually reinterpret the essence of song in a surprisingly and strikingly accessible way.” -Steve Loewy, All Music
—
Tracks 1 to 4 recorded live at Edgefest ’99, Ann Arbor, MI, 1999
Tracks 5 to 7 recorded live at Vision Fest, NYC, NY, June 6, 2001
Dominic Duval: Double Bass
Jay Rosen: Drums, Percussion
Joe McPhee: Saxophone
First Date: Live at The Vision Festival
First Date: Live at The Vision Festival
One of the most amazing discoveries is how the band’s sound was already well-established from this very first recorded performance, not that they haven’t evolved, but the core elements of total freedom, authentic feeling and reverence for tradition are already present. Quiet moments with lots of open space and room for interpretation and excursion by the individual soloists alternate by great moments of energetic explosivity.” -Stef, Free Jazz Blog
—
Bass – Dominic Duval
Drums – Jay Rosen
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Pocket Trumpet – Joe McPhee
Tracks 1 to 3 recorded live at the third annual Vision Festival, Sunday, May 24, 1998
Track 4 recorded and mixed at What’s Real Unlimited, Rochester, NY, October 20, 2004
The Rochester Experiment recorded and mixed by Matthew D. Guarnere.
Producer: Joe McPhee
co-Producer: Craig Johnson
Mastering Engineer: Ted Orr, Sertso Studio, Woodstock, NY
Cover Photo: Jerry Starpoli
Cover Design & Layout: Karen Caropepe
2006 U.S. Tour
2006 U.S. Tour
“All three are among the best musicians in free jazz land. Trio X is the epitome of tradition-based free jazz. It is free improvisation, with the themes of some standards or spirituals, often, but not always, as an excuse for improvising, being touched upon sketchily.” -Stef, Free Jazz Blog
—
Double Bass – Dominic Duval
Drums – Jay Rosen (2)
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Joe McPhee
Trumpet – Joe McPhee (tracks: 2-1 to 4-8, 6-1 to 7-5)
Disc 1 recorded Oct. 2, 2006, The Winston Room, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY
Disc 2 recorded Oct. 3, 2006, Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
Disc 3 recorded Oct. 4, 2006, The Hideout, Chicago, IL
Disc 4 recorded Oct. 5, 2006, Bucksbaum Theatre, Waukee, IA
Disc 5 recorded Oct. 6, 2006, Luna Cafe, Greenbay, WI
Disc 6 recorded Oct. 7, 2006, Bohemian National Home, Detroit, MI
Disc 7 recorded Oct. 9, 2006, Cafe Opus, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY