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A/B Trio

A/B Trio brings together three of Albertas most in-demand performing and recording jazz musicians – Thom Bennett (drums), Dan Davis (saxophone), and Josh McHan (double bass). This ensemble is inspired by the open sounding, chordless groups of Sonny Rollins and Joshua Redman, as well as the work of Chris Potter and Ari Hoenig. Their material ranges from inventive re- interpretations of standards to modern, original repertoire and high-energy groove-based music. Its fresh, accessible and compelling music for all jazz lovers.

Thom Bennett | Drums

Multi-talented drummer, Thom Bennett splits his time between performing, producing, and engineering. An in-demand professional musician, Thom performs regularly throughout Canada with a plethora of artists including A/B trio, MIXTAPE, Ann Vriend, Mo Lefever, and dozens of other artists. His extensive touring experience has led him across North America and Europe playing festivals, clubs, coffee houses and corporate events where he has shared stages with the likes of Kathleen Edwards, Jacksoul, Brad Turner and Mark Murphy. When not maintaining his busy gigging schedule, he splits his time between producing and engineering records at Sanctuary Studios in Edmonton, teaching students and composing music for a variety of genres.

Josh McHan | Bass

Josh is one of western Canadas most in-demand bassists. A graduate of the McGill Jazz Performance program in Montreal, Josh now makes his home in Edmonton where he is a regular feature on the jazz scene, playing with such Edmonton luminaries as Tommy Banks, PJ Perry, Jim Head, and Chris Andrew. He is also in high demand as a sideman for various singer/songwriters, performing both live and in the studio. Having recently received his Masters degree in Double Bass Performance, Josh can now also be seen performing within the classical realm, including several concerts with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Josh also teaches at MacEwan University.

Dan Davis | Saxophones

Saxophonist Dan Davis is an active member of Albertas thriving music scene, playing many different styles of music, from Symphonic to Jazz to Polka and back. Since graduating from the University of South Florida with a masters in jazz studies in 2009, Dan has worked with such artists and groups as P.J. Perry, Jim Head, Mo Lefever, Kent Sangster, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Ubiquitous Orchestra, the Edmonton Composers Collective, Anne Vriend, the Kubasonics and the Marty Majorowicz Syndicate just to name a few. As an Educator, Dan leads master classes all over the province of Alberta and is the saxophone instructor at Alberta College Conservatory of Music and Macewan University

Awards

Edmonton Music Award - 2016 - Jazz Recording of the Year Western Canadian Music Award nomination - Jazz Recording of the year


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Album Review

A/B Trio: Trioliloquy

Read "Trioliloquy" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


The suffix “-loquy" refers to something that is spoken. Alberta-based trio A/B Trio however has no intention of lecturing anyone on their third release Trioliloquy , but rather demonstrates how three musicians are able to create suspenseful narratives in a pool of colorful jazz tunes that be, bop and--once in a while--get blue as well. Thomas Bennett on drums, Dan Davis on saxophone and bassist Josh McHan are joined by trumpeter Kevin Turcotte for a couple of songs, augmenting the ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz Across The Generations: The Marel Hidalgo Organ Trio Featuring Roger Humphries And Leonieke Scheuble at Clements Place Jazz on August 15, 2025

Jazz Across The Generations: The Marel Hidalgo Organ Trio Featuring Roger Humphries And Leonieke Scheuble at Clements Place Jazz on August 15, 2025

Source: Gregory Burrus

Step into a night of soulful swing and timeless artistry as the Marel Hidalgo Organ Trio commands the stage at Clements Place Jazz, one of the area's most beloved intimate venues. This powerful performance showcases three exceptional musicians spanning generations, delivering a concert that is both historical and fresh Leading the ensemble is 16-year-old Marel Hidalgo, a guitar prodigy whose command of the instrument belies his age. Joining him is the iconic Roger Humphries, age 81, whose legendary rhythms have ...

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Video / DVD

The Gilmore Releases Exclusive Concert Video Of Mehldau-McBride-Gilmore Trio on July 8, 2025

The Gilmore Releases Exclusive Concert Video Of Mehldau-McBride-Gilmore Trio on July 8, 2025

Source: AMT Public Relations

Available on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. EST via YouTube Dr. Pierre van der Westhuizen, Executive and Artistic Director of The Gilmore, announced today the premiere video release of a recent concert by three Grammy-winning jazz artists: acclaimed pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist extraordinaire Christian McBride, and increasingly renowned drummer Marcus Gilmore. Performed before a sold-out audience at The Gilmore in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on April 13, 2025, the powerhouse trio shared the stage for an 80-minute set stocked with ...

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Recording

Mikkel Ploug Reunites With His Original Trio To Release 'Hope' On Songlines Recordings

Mikkel Ploug Reunites With His Original Trio To Release 'Hope' On Songlines Recordings

Source: GoMedia PR

Danish guitarist-composer Mikkel Ploug has had a long association with Songlines. The first of three recordings by the avant chamber-jazz trio Equilibrium, which he co-leads with Sissel Vera Pettersen and Joachim Badenhorst, appeared in 2009, and those were followed by two solo acoustic guitar titles, Alleviation (2017) and Day in the Sun (2022). Hope is the latest record by his very first jazz group, formed in 2006 with Danish bassist Jeppe Skovbakke and Irish drummer Sean Carpio. Recorded in studio ...

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Recording

PK Music Proudly Presents Christos Yerolatsitis’s Debut Piano Trio Album 'Daydreaming'

PK Music Proudly Presents Christos Yerolatsitis’s Debut Piano Trio Album 'Daydreaming'

Source: Christos Yerolatsitis

PK Music announces the upcoming release of Daydreaming, the debut piano trio album from Cypriot pianist and composer Christos Yerolatsitis. Officially hitting platforms on March 14, 2025, this deeply personal collection showcases Yerolatsitis’s singular voice, blending modern jazz with the vibrant hues of his Mediterranean roots. Having previously worked with world-renowned musicians such as Erik Truffaz, Ranjit Barot, and Masa Kamaguchi, Yerolatsitis now brings his own compositions to the forefront. He joins forces with Greek double bassist Grigoris Theodoridis and ...

Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Herbie Nichols Trio - Master Takes

Backgrounder: Herbie Nichols Trio - Master Takes

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Pianist Herbie Nichols has long been considered a Thelonious Monk disciple. In truth, Nichols had his own modernist bag that combined bebop's jagged attack and Dixieland's hard syncopation. A fascinating artist who was largely ignored during his lifetime (1919-1963), Nichols is perhaps best known for penning the jazz standard Lady Sings the Blues. Nichols began recording as a leader in 1955 after begging Blue Note's Alfred Lion to capture him in the studio. On his first albums, The Prophetic Herbie ...

Recording

Backgrounder: Horace Silver Trio (1952)

Backgrounder: Horace Silver Trio (1952)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Looking back, we can say now that Horace Silver was way ahead of his time. The pianist not only invented hard bop piano but also funk. All in 1952, two years after being discovered by tenor saxophonist Stan Getz in Hartford, Ct. Silver's first album was a 10-inch LP recorded for Blue Note in October 1952. The recording—New Faces New Sounds (Introducing the Horace Silver Trio)—is astonishing in that Silver unleashed an entirely new approach on the piano that fused ...

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Event

Sol Roots Trio Perform At The Room At Cedar Grove on November 9, 2024

Sol Roots Trio Perform At The Room At Cedar Grove on November 9, 2024

Source: 9th Floor Music

On Saturday November 9, world class guitarist and vocalist Sol Roots brings a trio to perform at the intimate concert hall and supper club, The Room at Cedar Grove, which is located on Delaware's scenic coast. Sol Roots performs an award-winning blend of New Orleans influenced funk, deep blues, heartfelt jazz and soul, and energetic rock. Known for his ferocious guitar skills and soulful vocals, Sol has toured around the world with many musical legends. Sol has spent most of ...

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Recording

Drummer-composer Devin Gray Presents Melt All The Guns II, The Second Release By His Melt All The Guns Trio, Featuring Trumpet Ace Ralph Alessi And French Pianist Myslaure Augustin

Drummer-composer Devin Gray Presents Melt All The Guns II, The Second Release By His Melt All The Guns Trio, Featuring Trumpet Ace Ralph Alessi And French Pianist Myslaure Augustin

Source: Devin Gray

Drummer-Composer Devin Gray Presents Melt All the Guns II, the Second Release by his Melt All the Guns Trio, Featuring Trumpet Ace Ralph Alessi and, New to the Band, French Pianist Myslaure Augustin Melt All the Guns II—to be released digitally and on CD via Gray’s Rataplan Records on October 4, 2024—features 11 rhythmically intricate, melodically charged compositions by the drummer-leader, brought to vivid life by this trio of top-flight improvisers Gray, Alessi & Augustin will perform material from Melt ...

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Performance / Tour

Announcing August 2024 Concert Schedule Including The Fred Hersch Trio, Johnathan Blake Quintet, And More At World-renowned Smoke Jazz Club

Announcing August 2024 Concert Schedule Including The Fred Hersch Trio, Johnathan Blake Quintet, And More At World-renowned Smoke Jazz Club

Source: AMT Public Relations

Entering its second quarter century as committed as ever to pure jazz (All About Jazz),” SMOKE Jazz Club continues its 25th anniversary season with another month of today’s leading artists in jazz. For the first time in the club’s history, the multi-GRAMMY-nominated pianist Fred Hersch performs on the SMOKE Stage. He is joined by his trio (Alexander Claffy and Jochen Rueckert) which The Wall Street Journal calls “one of the major ensembles of our time.” Johnathan Blake returns for five ...

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Recording

9 Horses Trio Releases String-centric 'Strum' Featuring Sara Caswell, Joe Brent, Andrew Ryan And More

9 Horses Trio Releases String-centric 'Strum' Featuring Sara Caswell, Joe Brent, Andrew Ryan And More

Source: AMT Public Relations

One of the most influential and admired ensembles in progressive jazz and improvised music, the primarily plucked and bowed string instruments of 9 Horses returns with Strum, its most extraordinary collection yet. Bursting at the seams with creativity and virtuosity, this 67-minute instrumental epic serves as the antithesis to today’s augmentation of A.I.-generated music. Alongside the string trio as the ensemble’s core, STRUM also features 25 of the world’s leading instrumentalists performing eight tunes prominently showcasing acoustic, organic human-made sounds. ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Trioliloquy

Chronograph Records
2018

buy

Out West featuring...

Chronograph Records
2015

buy

Take No Prisoners

Chronograph Records
2012

buy

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