• The Trio Format
• Earliest Recordings
• Bix Beiderbecke
• Jelly Roll Morton
• Stride Style
• Teddy Wilson
• Piano, Guitar and Bass
• Clarence Profit
• Nat Cole
• Art Tatum
• Piano, Bass and Drums
• Erroll Garner
• Bud Powell
• Duke Ellington
• Oscar Peterson
• Bill Evans
• Notes
• Appendix: Important Dates
• Sources
• Books and Articles
• Audio Recordings

• 1 Morton's left hand piano part from the introduction to Wolverine Blues
• 2 Slow or moderate two-beat bass part
• 3 Four-beat bass part (fast two-beat)
• 4 Bass excerpt from Tropical Nights, as played by Ben Browne
• 5 Garner's left hand piano part on Back Home Again in Indiana
• 6 Introduction to A Night In Tunisia, as played by Max Roach
• 7 Roach's percussion pattern on Un Poco Loco, take 1
• 8 Roach's percussion pattern on Un Poco Loco, take 3

• Transcriptions and illustrations by Ned Judy.

Jazz piano trio has become a popular ensemble format in the modern era. This setting includes bass and drums, however the piano is usually featured. The pianist plays most of the principal themes, and improvises solos in nearly every piece. While this ensemble format is now common, trios featuring piano were rare in the early years of jazz, and often included a wind instrument for which the pianist provided accompaniment. The development of the jazz piano trio occurred over a period of decades, across a span of several jazz styles, and with significant changes in instrumentation. Ultimately, the trio has become a powerful vehicle for expression for the jazz pianist, providing him with the support of a rhythm section, while allowing him great freedom. Most modern jazz pianists have led trios, and some pianists from earlier periods, who established their careers before the widespread use of this format, have led trios in more recent times.

While the piano trio was not a popular ensemble format in the early years of jazz, the pianist has long been an important element, both as a soloist and as an ensemble member. His importance can be attributed to the uniqueness and versatility of his instrument, which offers wide pitch and dynamic ranges, and the mechanism for playing more than one note at a time. The capable jazz pianist can play several parts, as a complete band, providing melody, bass, and chords, with rhythmic drive. As an unaccompanied soloist, he is free to play all of these parts, and to spontaneously create the overall structure of the music he is performing, however, he is deprived of the creative interactions found in ensemble music. Conversely, when playing with large ensembles, the pianist can interact with others, but usually sacrifices some freedom of self expression. Leonard Feather describes this dilemma facing the jazz pianist, as well as the ideal solution:

The “exchanges” described by Feather often lead to collective musical ideas, of which the pianist, on his own, would not conceive. While the pianist may possess great creative freedom in a solo setting, the ensemble is often preferable for the pianist, and for the listener, because of the musical exchanges involved. It is the piano trio format that offers the pianist the benefits of interaction with other musicians, while allowing the most freedom of self expression within any ensemble setting.

It was nearly a decade after the first jazz recordings were made when the first recordings of piano trios appeared. In these early situations, the pianist often served an accompanying role. In New York on May 13, 1927, a trio named Tram, Bix & Eddie, with cornetist and pianist Bix Beiderbecke, recorded an original composition entitled For No Reason At All In C. Beiderbecke plays piano throughout most of this recording, switching to cornet only for the tag ending. C-melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer, and guitarist Eddie Lang are featured, and each plays a solo while Beiderbecke accompanies in stride style.2 This was typical of the role often played by the pianist in the small ensemble during much of the 1920s.

Other early jazz piano trio recordings include those of the Jelly Roll Morton Trio, with pianist Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, clarinetist Johnny Dodds, and drummer Baby Dodds. Morton was a renowned pianist and composer from New Orleans who played on numerous recordings in the 1920s, as a soloist and ensemble pianist. Most of his ensemble recordings included rhythm section along with wind instruments, such as clarinet, cornet, and trombone.3 During a June 7, 1927, recording session in Chicago, however, Morton and the Dodds brothers, as a trio, recorded some of Morton’s popular works. On Wolverine Blues, Morton begins with an unaccompanied stride piano introduction. As the clarinet and drums enter, Morton assumes a supporting role, briefly playing a series of long block chords before returning to stride. As with the Tram, Bix & Eddie recording made a few weeks earlier, the wind instrument, in this case clarinet, is featured and the pianist serves primarily as an accompanist.4

During the same recording session, however, the Jelly Roll Morton Trio recorded Mr. Jelly Lord, in which Morton plays a more substantial role.5 Much of this recording consists of piano and drums alone, and the principle themes appear in the piano part. Morton again performs in stride style, while Baby Dodds plays with brushes. The piece begins with Morton and Baby Dodds, first playing a four-measure introduction, then a sixteen-measure section. When Johnny Dodds enters on clarinet, he plays counterpoint to Morton’s right hand part, establishing a collective, principal theme. Morton then plays a solo which includes a stop time fill of descending block chords. The counterpoint texture returns as Dodds enters, although Morton is again featured with another stop time fill, this time in the bass register. In this recording, Morton is featured, and Dodds primarily provides support for Morton’s right-hand piano parts. The exchanges between the musicians appear to be the result of Morton’s written arrangements, not those of spontaneous musical interactions. While it does not offer the sensitivity found in the works of later trios, this recording is important because it demonstrates an interest in a trio format by a prominent jazz pianist of the 1920s, and is among the earliest recordings of a jazz trio featuring piano.

Stride style was used by most early jazz pianists, including Beiderbecke and Morton. This style includes a left-hand part which alternates between bass notes played on the strong beats, and chords played on the weak. The right hand usually plays syncopated broken chords, which serve as melodies, or thematic material. Because of the fullness of the sound produced, stride style is ideally suited for solo piano. Stride often allows little space for others to play, and so the integration of stride piano into an ensemble can present challenges to both the pianist and the other musicians. For example, the bass notes in the stride style most often occur on the first and third beats of every measure, implying a two-beat rhythm (figure 1). If a bassist is included in the ensemble, he is often compelled to play a two-beat pattern in order to avoid conflict with this piano part. At a slow or moderate tempo, the bassist often doubles the pianist’s bass notes (figure 2). At a faster tempo, although changing pitch only on strong beats, the bassist often plays a four-beat rhythm by repeating notes (figure 3).

Figure 1. Morton's left hand piano part from the introduction to Wolverine Blues     [ audio excerpt ]

Figure 2. Slow or moderate two-beat bass part

Figure 3. Four-beat bass part (fast two-beat)

Beiderbecke and Morton avoid any potential conflict with bass by not including the instrument in their recordings. Eventually, pianists would abandon stride as new styles were developed, allowing for more space in the bass register.

In the mid 1930s the jazz trio format gained a wider audience when clarinetist Benny Goodman formed his trio with pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Gene Krupa. This instrumentation is the same used by Morton in his trio recordings from nearly a decade earlier. In the July 13, 1935 recording of Body and Soul, Goodman plays the melodic themes, and Wilson provides stride accompaniment, while Krupa plays with brushes.6 Wilson plays a piano solo during the first bridge, which includes fast, single-note runs in his right hand. During the second chorus, Wilson improvises over all repetitions of the "A" section, while Goodman solos over the bridge. While Goodman and Wilson both demonstrate their ensemble sensitivities, this trio was not Goodman’s principal interest. He was pursuing his career as a big band leader, and the trio actually caused controversy by being the first racially integrated jazz ensemble to perform for white audiences.7

The earliest regularly working jazz trio that featured piano was formed in 1936 by pianist Clarence Profit. After having spent much of the early 1930s performing in the West Indies, including Antigua, St. Kitts, and Bermuda, Profit returned to his native New York in 1936.8 There he formed the Clarence Profit Trio with electric guitarist Billy Moore and bassist Ben Brown, and in 1937 they began a two-year engagement, or residency, at George’s Tavern. Until his death in 1944 at the age of 32, Profit performed regularly with this trio format in New York nightclubs, including the Cafè Society, the Yeah Man Club, Kelly’s, and the Village Vanguard.9

Although Profit is known primarily as a stride pianist in the Harlem tradition, the recordings of the Clarence Profit Trio include a wide variety of styles and musical ideas. On February 15, 1939, the trio recorded several pieces that demonstrate Profit's technical abilities and originality.  I Got Rhythm, by George Gershwin, is played at a fast tempo.10 Moore plays the melody on guitar, while Profit plays a stride accompaniment. Brown plays a four-beat bass pattern, at times with a different pitch on each beat, approaching a walking style. He also plays a bass solo over the final bridge, in quarter notes, while maintaining a four-beat pattern. Profit’s solos in this piece alternate between arpeggiated chords and single-note runs, and include several moments of virtuoso Harlem stride piano.

Figure 4. Bass excerpt from Tropical Nights, as played by Ben Browne

Profit plays light, staccato melodies in octaves, sixths, and tenths, with even eighth notes that are not swung. The strong Caribbean influence, the minor key melodies, and the overall dramatic effect contribute to the uniqueness of this piece.

On September 11, 1940, the Clarence Profit Trio recorded with a new guitarist, Jimmy Shirley. In their arrangement of the traditional song Dark Eyes, the trio combines the Russian elements of the song with stride, walking bass, and Shirley’s use of his electric guitar’s tremolo bar.13 Profit again shows his originality and sense of drama. Although few recordings of Profit and his trio exist, and little has been written about him, his influence is apparent in modern jazz piano trios, such as those of Bud Powell.

Soon after Profit established his trio in New York, Nat Cole formed one of his own in Los Angeles. Originally named The Nat Cole Swingsters, it included guitarist Oscar Moore, and bassist Wesley Prince. As with its New York counterpart, this trio was a working band, not a side project, or product of a single recording session. Cole formed the trio in order to fulfill the requirements of a particular situation. In the Summer of 1937, promoter and nightclub owner Bob Lewis heard Cole perform as a solo pianist and offered him a regular engagement at the Swanee Inn, in Hollywood, California. Lewis had requested a small band and Cole’s first thoughts were of a quartet, so he solicited Moore, Prince, and drummer Lee Young. Cole biographer Daniel Mark Epstein explains how Young "took one look at the little bandstand at the cozy Swanee Inn, and said there was no room for a drummer."14 Cole’s wife, Maria, tells a slightly different story in her Cole biography, describing how Young, "having just purchased a set of new drums, had his heart set on joining a big band rather than playing with a small group."15 Regardless of the circumstances, Young never participated in Cole’s new band, and so the trio was formed. Shortly thereafter, it was renamed the King Cole Trio, and it eventually became a commercial success behind Cole’s singing. In its early days, however, the trio played original instrumental compositions, as well as songs with vocals.

During a December 6, 1940, session the King Cole Trio recorded several pieces that reveal Cole’s abilities as a pianist, and his role as an innovator, playing in a style other than stride, and interacting with the trio in new ways.16 This Side Up, by Cole, includes a simple, riff based head in the twelve bar blues form. While Moore plays a guitar solo, Cole plays short block chords, allowing Prince more freedom with the bass notes he chooses to play. The overall effect of this piece is relaxed, despite some fast runs played on piano and guitar. Although Cole chooses to play sparse on this particular piece, he demonstrates his stride piano abilities on Honeysuckle Rose, recorded during the same session. The piece begins at a moderate tempo with a deliberate two-beat feel, but then after only six measures of the head, the trio suddenly changes to a faster tempo in a highly syncopated stride style. After the first complete chorus, Moore plays a solo over Cole’s sparse block chords. Then Prince plays a solo in the walking bass style while Cole plays even sparser chords, before returning to full stride style. In this session, Cole reveals his grasp of tradition, while creating his own ideas of style.

During the King Cole Trio’s fifth year, bassist Wesley Prince was drafted into military service in an ironic realization of the group’s 1940 original song entitled, Gone With The Draft. 17 The trio continued with new bassists, first Red Callendar, and then Johnny Miller. In a January 17, 1944, recording of The Man I Love, the trio plays in a slow, two-beat rhythm. Cole plays the melody in his right hand, first with single notes, then with closed chords, and later in thirds. His left hand is subdued, and it supports the right while not playing a distinct part. Moore and Miller both play in a subdued manner, as well, and it is the overall effect of mystery or longing that distinguishes this recording. While none of the players features his instrumental virtuosity in this piece, the group plays together as a unit, creating a successful overall ensemble effect. 18

Moore left the trio in 1947, Miller the following year, and the King Cole Trio ended its decade long run while Cole pursued his successful singing career. Today Cole is best known as a singer of popular music, not a virtuoso jazz pianist. Accounts of the origins of his vocal career often credit a drunken club patron with the idea that Cole should sing, and according to Maria Cole, her husband said that this particular story, "sounded cool, so I just let it ride." She quotes him further:

With Cole’s singing, the trio gained a much wider audience, and in 1944, Cole’s original song Straighten Up and Fly Right was near the top of the pop charts.20 Due largely to Cole's commercial success, the jazz piano trio became an accepted ensemble format in popular American culture.

With the success of Cole’s trio, other notable jazz pianists began forming trios of their own. Art Tatum was the most respected of the stride-influenced players, particularly among his fellow jazz pianists. His numerous recordings demonstrate an impressive technical command, as well as a profound understanding of altered harmony and chord substitution. Tatum played intricate arrangements of standard tunes, using rich textures, while usually executing a high level of pianistic technique. Because of his renown as a soloist, Tatum received some criticism when he formed a trio in 1943. Biographer James Lester describes the situation:

Guitarist Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes and bassist Leroy "Slam" Stewart had been working together as a duo in 1943 when they began playing with Tatum in New York. In this setting, Tatum’s playing was somewhat more subdued than in his solo recordings. Tatum, himself, explains this in an interview:

While the structures of the trio arrangements may be simpler than those of Tatum’s solo works, the recordings of the Art Tatum Trio nevertheless serve as a showcase for his technical mastery. In these recordings, at times his left hand is sparse, playing short chords in the manner of Cole, allowing space for the bass parts. Tatum and Grimes often play themes together in harmony, and Stewart uses the bow, along with the effect of singing or humming an octave above his bass part.

During a May 1, 1944, session the trio recorded the Russian traditional song Dark Eyes, which the Clarence Profit Trio had recorded five years earlier.23 Tatum’s juxtaposition of stride and two-beat rhythms against the minor melody creates a sense of dark drama, reminiscent of Profit’s recording. As with most recordings of Tatum, a featured element is his virtuosity, as he includes impressive right hand runs over short, left hand chords. At one point he quotes a theme from Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2, in block chords. Grimes then plays a solo over Tatum’s stride accompaniment. Grimes’s playing obviously does not match the level of technical proficiency of Tatum’s, although this can be expected of anyone playing with Tatum. Stewart plays a four-beat bass pattern. He also plays a bowed solo, in which he sings along, an octave above his bass. Tatum and Grimes then play fast, harmonized figures, ornamented with piano runs.

During the same session, the trio also recorded The Man I Love, by Gershwin.24 The piece begins slowly, with Tatum playing the melody over Stewart’s long, bowed bass notes. Tatum again displays his technical abilities, but also provides a subdued stride accompaniment under the guitar and bass solos. Stewart plays with a bow through much of the piece, contributing to a heavy, somber mood. The trio never sustains this mood, however, primarily because of Tatum’s playfulness. He interjects double-time runs and he briefly quotes from Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. During the last "A" section of Grimes’s solo, the entire trio plays in double time, and then quadruple time, with Stewart playing continuous sixteenth notes. With such abrupt changes, this recording displays a light humor, rather than the more sensitive moods and intimate ensemble work present in the Cole’s recording of the same song, made only a few months earlier. Gunther Schuller is critical of Tatum’s trio recordings:

Regardless of such criticisms, in its day the Art Tatum Trio was a popular success, and among the top draws on 52^nd Street in New York.26 Tatum made his last recordings with this trio in May 1945 in Los Angeles and did not record with a trio again until his 1952 sessions with Stewart and guitarist Everett Barksdale.27

After Tatum left his trio in 1945, Stewart and Grimes continued playing together as the Slam Stewart Trio, with pianist Erroll Garner. Garner had already been a substitute pianist with the Art Tatum Trio at the Three Deuces in New York in 1944. Stewart recalls:

Before serving as a substitute for Tatum in New York, Garner gained unique ensemble experience by working regularly in duo piano situations in his hometown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Reid Jaynes played duo piano with Garner at Mercurs's Music Bar in the spring of 1944. Jaynes recalls:

When Garner reached New York, his talent and originality impressed many of the musicians on the scene, including Tatum. Singer Sylvia Syms, a close friend of Tatum’s, describes his perception of Garner:

The "special kind of time" that Syms describes, and "dragging the time" as described by Jaynes, involves Garner's right hand, which often lags behind the beat, with a relaxed feel. Garner rarely played stride and instead, with his left hand, played short, block chords on every beat, similar to a rhythm guitar part.

Figure 5. Garner's left hand piano part on Back Home Again in Indiana

Garner’s left hand fulfilled much of the role of rhythm guitarist, and so he included drums rather than guitar when he formed his own trio. On December 18 1944, Garner made his first recording in the new trio format, with bassist John Simmons and drummer Harold "Doc" West.31 Over the next twenty years, Garner released dozens of recordings with this format.

On September 25, 1945, Garner recorded Back Home Again in Indiana with bassist John Levy and drummer George de Hart. Garner plays his four-beat left-hand style throughout the piece. He plays the melody in his right hand with closed chords, similar to a harmonized melody in a big band arrangement. He also plays the only solo, consisting mostly of single-note phrases, with occasional chords stabs that serve as a response and contrast to his single-note lines. Garner avoids the bass register, centering his left around middle C, as his right plays in the higher registers. This leaves space for Levy, who plays a note on each beat, usually repeating each pitch in the four-beat bass style. De Hart uses brushes, and adds energy to the swing, blending with Garner’s unique rhythmic approach, while presenting no potential harmonic conflicts, as might a guitarist. On this recording, Levy and de Hart serve strictly as accompanists, and there is little ensemble interaction.32 With the Erroll Garner Trio, however, many of the problems of incorporating piano into an ensemble setting were solved, and the trio format of piano, bass, and drums became the standard, with few exceptions.

By the late 1940s, like Garner most pianists were finding ways to express themselves without the use of stride. In 1947, New York pianist Earl "Bud" Powell formed a trio with bassist Curly Russell and drummer Max Roach. Powell was perhaps the most technically proficient of the new pianists, possessing a facility comparable to that of Art Tatum, and a sense of drama reminiscent of Clarence Profit. In 1942, Powell met Thelonious Monk, who took him to Minton’s Playhouse where Monk had been the house pianist.33 This New York nightclub was a gathering place for musicians who, on their nights off, and after hours, developed the new language of modern jazz. Many of the more prominent players of the day frequented Minton’s, including guitarist Charlie Christian and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.34 With the influence of these musicians, Powell soon became the foremost of the modern pianists, executing solos with intensity and strong rhythmic conviction.

Powell made numerous recordings with the trio format, the first in New York on January 10, 1947 with Russell and Roach. Among the selections recorded during this session was, Indiana, an arrangement of Back Home Again In Indiana. In this recording, Powell displays an intensity with his solos similar to that of Charlie Parker or Gillespie solos. The piece is played at a very fast tempo and features the virtuosity of the entire trio. Powell plays the melody using a combination of single-note phrases and block chords, which include subtle voice leading. During his piano solo, he plays long, single-note phrases in his right hand, while his left accompanies with chord stabs. Unlike Garner, who played left-hand chords on every beat, Powell plays his left-hand chords only in places that accentuate his solo, providing more specific support for his right hand. Russell plays notes on every beat, repeating only some notes, very much in the walking bass style. Roach uses brushes throughout, and plays accents, or bombs, on his bass drum, often coinciding with Powell’s left-hand chord stabs. During the third solo chorus, Roach trades "eights" with the others. Powell and Russell play an arranged chromatic figure for the first eight measures, and Roach follows with eight measures of unaccompanied solo on snare and bass drums. This occurs twice, completing the full thirty-two-measure form. Powell then plays a solo over the final chorus, developing a simple, single-note theme into a clear, structured idea that is easy for the listener to follow, despite its fast tempo. Finally, the trio executes a precise, arranged tag ending, with unpredictable accents, concluding with a descending whole-tone scale played in thirds on the piano.35 Like Garner in his 1945 recording of Back Home Again In Indiana, Powell avoids the bass register, leaving it for his bassist to exploit. In this newer arrangement, however, the bassist and drummer play much more prominent roles, providing accents along with Powell’s left hand, and participating in arranged sections.

Bud Powell later performed and recorded in the trio format with many notable musicians, including bassists Ray Brown, Percy Heath, and Paul Chambers, and drummers Buddy Rich, Roy Haynes, and Art Taylor. Probably the most innovative of the Bud Powell trios, however, included Russell and Roach. On May 1, 1951, this trio recorded A Night In Tunisia, by Dizzy Gillespie, and Un Poco Loco, by Powell.36 Both of these works reveal strong Afro-Cuban influences, particularly in Roach's drumming. On A Night In Tunisia, Roach includes a cowbell in his drum set, and plays even eighth notes. His playing is featured on the introduction to the piece.

Figure 6. Introduction to A Night In Tunisia, as played by Max Roach

On Un Poco Loco, Roach is allowed a great deal of freedom, during his melodic drum solo, and with the unique rhythmic pattern he plays through much of the piece. Roach again includes cowbell, although on this recording he plays uneven groupings of notes, forming a "5 + 5 + 6" pattern. The development of Roach's approach to Un Poco Loco is revealed in the alternate takes from the May 1, 1951, recording session.37 On the first take, Roach plays a common Latin cowbell pattern, along with a two-beat pattern on bass drum and snare.

Figure 7. Max Roach's percussion pattern on Un Poco Loco, first take  [ audio ]

On the second and third takes, Roach abandons this simple pattern for one more befitting the title of the piece. He distributes uneven groupings of notes among cowbell, open snare drum, and tom-tom.

Figure 8. Max Roach's percussion pattern on Un Poco Loco, take 3    [ looped example ]

While Roach plays this pattern through much of the piece, it is particularly interesting when played during the head, because Powell implies a 3 - 2 clave pattern in his piano parts. Powell's piano pattern combined with Roach's percussion pattern creates strong rhythmic tension. With these recordings, Roach demonstrates a new, more prominent role for the drummer in the trio setting.

1947 proved to be an important year for the new jazz piano trio format, as several prominent pianists, in addition to Bud Powell, recorded in this setting for the first time. Monk recorded his first trio sessions on October 24, with bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Art Blakey.38 Oscar Peterson also recorded with this format on at least two occasions in Montreal in 1947, first on April 17, and again on December 15.39 On December 15, 1947, Teddy Wilson recorded with bassist Billy Taylor, Jr. and drummer Bill Purnell. On this recording Wilson uses a combination of stride and a newer, sparse technique not present in his playing with the Benny Goodman Trio.40

Teddy Wilson was not the only pianist from a previous era to embrace the new piano trio format. In Los Angeles on April 13 and 14, 1953, Duke Ellington recorded a collection of his original pieces with bassist Wendall Marshall and drummer Butch Ballard. These recordings are as much a showcase for Ellington’s compositions as they are for his playing. On Dancers in Love, he uses stride and reveals his sense of humor. In most of the other pieces from this session he uses an original piano style, with unorthodox chord voicings, and he conveys deeper romantic emotions.41

Ellington again recorded with a trio on September 17, 1962, this time in New York with bassist Charles Mingus and Max Roach. The result was an album entitled Money Jungle, which includes several works not previously released, including A Little Max, which was written for the occasion.42

As young and old pianists began to play in trios with bass and drums, this newer format became the standard by the end of the 1940s. One notable exception was the Oscar Peterson Trio. In 1951 Peterson formed a trio with guitarist Barney Kessel and bassist Ray Brown. Kessel left one year later and was replaced first by Irving Ashby, and then by Herb Ellis, who played with the trio for the next six years.43 Although Peterson was influenced by the trios of Cole and Tatum, Leonard Feather wrote that "Oscar’s piano/bass/guitar trios made more sophisticated use of that instrumentation" than those of his predecessors.44

Peterson's work in the older trio format came to an end in 1958, when Ellis left the trio, and was replaced by drummer Gene Gammage. In 1959 Ed Thigpen became the drummer in the Oscar Peterson Trio. Peterson played with bass and drums throughout the 1960s, confirming his acceptance of the new standard format.

Perhaps no pianist has embraced and explored the modern jazz piano trio as successfully as Bill Evans, who first recorded with this format in 1956. He also appears on recordings with big band, orchestra, and as a soloist, however, most of Evans' recorded output, produced over a twenty-five year span, is in the trio format.45 Over the years, Evans recorded with trios that included bassists such as Oscar Pettiford, Paul Chambers, Scott LaFaro, Eddie Gomez, and Marc Johnson, and drummers such as Paul Motian, Philly Joe Jones, Jack DeJohnette, Marty Morell, and Joe LaBarbara. Bass and drums are integral elements in Evans' trios, not simply accompaniment for piano, as was the case with many of Garner's trio recordings. With Evans' trios, the modern jazz piano trio format is fully realized, allowing Evans vast expressive freedom, while providing him with the support and creative input from sensitive ensemble players.

On November 26, 1979, Evans performed with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera, at L'Espace Cardin, in Paris, at a concert recorded and broadcast by Radio France. On My Romance, by Rogers and Hart, each of the three musicians demonstrates his abilities as soloist and ensemble player.46 The piece begins with an extended, unaccompanied, rubato piano introduction, in which Evans suggests the song's chord structure, while not explicitly playing the chord changes. The head is then played one time by the full trio, with the melody appearing in the piano. LaBarbera then plays an unaccompanied drum solo over one chorus, and then is joined by Johnson, who plays a bass solo, with drum accompaniment. A pattern is established, and repeated several times, with unaccompanied drum solo, followed by bass solo with drum accompaniment. Johnson and LaBarbera together improvise through metric modulations, and textural changes. When Evans eventually enters on piano, he trades “twos” with his own left and right hands, over one complete chorus. LaBarbera plays one last, brief unaccompanied drum solo, before the full trio plays the head a final time, at a substantially faster tempo than earlier. They end with a complex, arranged tag, contrasting the openness of much of the piece, while adding a powerful sense of conclusion. In this performance of My Romance, the trio engages in collective and individual artistic expression. The individual members continually change roles, from unaccompanied soloist, to collective improviser, to accompanist. This format proves to be an ideal vehicle of expression for each of the trio members, not only the pianist.

During the same Paris concert, the Bill Evans Trio performed Nardis, by Miles Davis.47 Again, Evans begins with an extended, unaccompanied piano solo, however, this time, he clearly states the chord changes. He plays numerous choruses, each with a different idea, or motive. In the first chorus, Evans plays full chords in rubato. During the second, he introduces fifths in his left hand. In the third chorus, Evans continues with fifths in his left hand, however, this time they are staccato, and the rubato gives way to a strong meter. Evans then introduces an ascending chromatic line, which he develops over several more choruses. This resembles "theme and variations", although the actual theme doesn't appear until after the variations have been heard, when the full trio enters, and Evans plays the melody of Nardis. After the head has been played one time, Johnson plays a bass solo, over one chorus, with trio accompaniment, before playing an extended, open solo. LaBarbera follows with the same form; first a one-chorus solo with the trio, then an extended, open drum solo. The full trio plays the head a final time, and ends with several long chords.

Evans' five-minute, unaccompanied introduction to Nardis could serve as a complete musical statement, by itself, without further treatment. With the trio, however, Evans is able to express himself as a soloist, and serve as an ensemble player, interacting with other musicians to create music he probably could not conceive of on his own.

Since the 1920s, jazz pianists have experimented with trios, searching for ways to better express themselves. Jelly Roll Morton included clarinet and drums in his trio, setting an example followed by Benny Goodman a decade later. With his use of bass and guitar, Clarence Profit established a precedent that would last another decade. It is the format of Erroll Garner’s 1944 trio, however, that pianists have embraced as the standard. In the 1950s, many of the prominent jazz pianists formed trios with bass and drums, including Horace Silver, Tommy Flanagan, John Lewis, and Bill Evans. In the 1960s, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock formed trios.48 Some pianists, including Bill Evans, have embraced the piano trio as their principal vehicles of expression, with the majority of their recorded works being produced in this format. While providing the support of a rhythm section, and allowing for great freedom of individual expression, the trio today is as much a part of the modern jazz pianist’s experience as any performance setting.