Central North Carolina based jazz ensemble is celebrating the release of their second album 鈥�.鈥� Pianist Andrew Berinson, bassist Paul Creel, and drummer Donovan Cheatham formed the group in 2022 after crossing paths within the local jazz scene. Since then the group has become one of the hardest working acts in the area, both in THRIO and as session players with other established artists like Nnena Freelon.
THRIO will be performing an album release show at Missy Lane鈥檚 Assembly Room in downtown Durham on March 23. They stopped by the 吉彩网网站 studio recently to chat with music reporter Brian Burns about the formation of the group and what people can expect from the new record.
This is an excerpt of an edited transcript of that conversation. You can hear the full interview by clicking the LISTEN button at the top of this post.
I know the three of you all come from different backgrounds. Tell us about where you were before THRIO formed.
Donovan: I was in school at North Carolina Central University. Donovan and I are both Eagles. That鈥檚 kind of where my career started. Playing in jam sessions and being hired by people who heard me playing there.
Andrew: I would say the same. Donovan and I met at NC Central, which was a great opportunity. It kind of blended the professional environment with the school environment. We were really getting on the job training, so to speak, hanging out on the scene, and sitting in with older musicians.
The new record is a mix of originals and arrangements of standards from artists like Miles Davis and Chick Corea. The first tune I want to get into is one that you all have a writing credit on. Tell us about 鈥淪ucker鈥檚 Blues.鈥�
Andrew: 鈥淪ucker鈥檚 Blues鈥� is a fun, fun tune. It's really a totally improvised moment on the record. It follows a tune that Paul, our bass player, wrote called 鈥淲atch Your Toes,鈥� which is about a vacuum cleaner. And so the 鈥淪ucker鈥檚 Blues鈥� is the vacuum cleaner.
There鈥檚 also a really nice version of the Wynton Marsalis classic 鈥淒elfeayo鈥檚 Dilemma.鈥� How did that song come into your repertoire?
Donovan: That song is, it's not like an obscure song, but amongst instrumentalists, it can be a pretty challenging song. So we always like a challenge with odd meters and stuff. So we just thought it'd be cool to play it since all our heroes play it.
Speaking of heroes and Wynton Marsalis, tell us what that family means to you.
Andrew: Well, Donovan and I met at North Carolina Central and Branford Marsalis is the artist in residence there. He really helped to shape our early ideas about what this music is supposed to be, or what it can be.
The first single you release from the record is a 鈥淣ardis,鈥� a piece composed by Miles Davis but probably more known as a Bill Evans tune. Do you remember the first time you heard that piece of music?
Donovan: I heard it sampled by Madlib with MF DOOM on the 鈥淢advillainy鈥� record. So that was my introduction into jazz for real, and I didn't really make the correlation for a while, until I got out of school and was like, wow, this is that tune.
Andrew: I think the same thing. That 鈥淢advillainy鈥� record was probably the first time I actually heard that track. But it's become also a standard tune that people play at jam sessions.So definitely a war horse standard.
