File:Trio 3 + Geri Allen featuring Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman and Oliver Lake.jpg

English: If you’ve been keeping up with your numerology, you know that Trio 3 is a longstanding collective threesome comprised of bona fide greats who breathe jazz history through every note. Bassist Reggie Workman was a member of John Coltrane’s legendary Live at the Village Vanguard quartet. Drummer Andrew Cyrille helped rewrite jazz with the Cecil Taylor Unit. Slashing saxophonist and flutist Oliver Lake co-founded the Black Artist Group, a St. Louis counterpart to Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and is a charter member of the World Saxophone Quartet.

And then there are their individual endeavors, which span pre-swing, bebop and free jazz, rap, dance and world music. Cyrille’s solo drum performances and duets with traps genius Milford Graves dared go where no drummer had gone before. Lake, a prolific composer in new music as well as jazz, broke new ground with his roots-reggae band Jumpin’ Up and his Steel Quartet. Workman’s remarkable African-American Legacy Project features a 20-piece orchestra and 18-member chorus.

If Trio 3′s range isn’t remarkable enough as it is, the addition of pianist Geri Allen puts it over the top. Firmly established in the pantheon of living pianists, she has made one major statement after another in recent times with her Mary Lou Williams tributes, solo recording and Timeline band album. Allen, whose latest recording with Trio 3 is the live Celebrating Mary Lou Williams, is another artist who views modern jazz and its earlier styles on the same continuum. Quartet 4, if you will, may be the best case of addition by addition you’ll ever hear.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 Petrillo Music Shell Trio 3 + Geri Allen

6:00 – 6:55 pm