Roy Campbell - Communion

Trumpet trios, consisting of trumpet, bass and percussion, are relatively rare.

Tomasz Stanko has one (Bluish), Don Cherry has two (Blue Lake and on Charlie Haden's The Montreal Tapes), the Chicago Underground Trio has one (Slon), but that's about it, I think. There are of course variations, with guitar (Chet Baker), marimba (Schaphorst), electronics(Arve Henriksen), but then always with a harmonic instrument. If you know more trumpet trios, please let me know. Otherwise, there are dozens and dozens of sax trios. Why is that? I don't know. Are there more sax players than trumpet players? Is the range of a sax broader so that it's easier to entertain for a whole album? Whatever it is, Roy Campbell has issued three albums as a trumpet trio : Ancestral Homeland, Ethnic Stew & Brew and Communion. William Parker plays the bass on all three, the drummers are respectively Zen Matsuura, Hamid Drake and Reggie Nicholson. All three are highly recommended. Communion offers a little more variation than the other two. Campbell is a technically very strong trumpet player, but the musical space he creates is even more impressive. Strongly based in the blues, with openness for music of other continents. Real free jazz, with open ears. Despite - or thanks to - the limited line-up, the other musicians get plenty of space for soloing and to offer their musical contribution. Everything is possible in this music : the openness and breathing space created, is perfectly taken advantage of by the band : sensitive, meditative, entertaining, involving, suprising, ...

For more info check his website.

To order : Silkheart website