This Is Venus Jazz: Great Piano Trio — Twenty-Four Meetings at the Heart of Jazz

The room is silent except for the faint mechanical sound of a piano being prepared. A bench is moved a few centimetres closer to the keyboard, a bassist checks the tuning of the lowest string, and a drummer brushes one hand across a cymbal before the session begins. There are no horns waiting behind them and no singer standing at the microphone. Everything that follows will be created by three musicians: piano, double bass and drums.

That stripped-back setting defines This Is Venus Jazz: Great Piano Trio, a wide-ranging Venus Records compilation devoted entirely to one of the most revealing and enduring formats in jazz. Released on April 17, 2013, under catalogue number VHCD-1123, the collection presents 24 performances arranged across two discs. Its stated purpose was simple but ambitious: to bring together accomplished Venus jazz pianists performing popular standards and to demonstrate the full expressive power of the jazz piano trio. (venusrecord.com)

Running for roughly 122 minutes, the album is not a brief sampler designed to offer a few recognisable names before disappearing into the background. It is a sustained journey through contrasting interpretations, national traditions and generations of piano playing. Derek Smith, Eddie Higgins, Kenny Werner, Harold Mabern, John Hicks, Steve Kuhn, David Hazeltine, Denny Zeitlin and Cyrus Chestnut are among the musicians leading their trios through a programme of romantic ballads, swinging standards, Latin melodies and unexpected adaptations. (venusrecord.com)

The story begins with the Derek Smith Trio performing “Beautiful Love.” The title immediately establishes the emotional territory that will run through much of the album, but the music also introduces the central challenge of the piano trio. With only three instruments, elegance cannot be manufactured by adding layers. The pianist must carry melody, harmony and direction, while bass and drums must support the structure without becoming secondary figures.

In a great jazz piano trio, the music is not a soloist accompanied by two anonymous musicians. It is a three-way conversation. A bass note can redirect the harmony. A cymbal accent can change the meaning of a piano phrase. A brief silence can become as important as a rapid run across the keyboard.

The Eddie Higgins Trio follows with “It’s All Right With Me,” moving from the romantic gravity of the opener toward the sophistication of Cole Porter. Higgins became closely associated with the polished, intimate character heard throughout the Venus Records catalogue, and his place near the beginning helps define the collection’s atmosphere. The performance feels welcoming, but it never becomes decorative. Beneath the graceful surface lies the constant movement of musicians listening and responding to one another.

The Kenny Werner Trio then approaches “All the Things You Are,” one of the most harmonically durable standards in jazz. Its familiar progression has supported countless improvisations, but familiarity becomes an advantage here. Because listeners may already know the melody, they can concentrate on the pianist’s choices: where the rhythm is delayed, where a chord is opened, where the trio temporarily leaves the expected path before finding its way back.

With the Roma Trio performing “All of You,” the compilation reveals its international reach. The album may be issued by a Japanese label and built around the American jazz tradition, but its musicians come from several countries and bring different rhythmic and melodic instincts to the same basic format. The piano trio becomes a common language rather than a fixed regional style.

The Rob Agerbeek Trio’s reading of “Besame Mucho” introduces one of the album’s recurring pleasures: the transformation of widely known popular melodies into vehicles for serious jazz improvisation. The song’s Latin identity remains recognisable, but the trio is free to reshape its movement, stretch its romantic tension and place new harmonic colours beneath the melody.

That romantic line continues when the Jon Davis Trio plays “Moon River.” A song frequently associated with cinema and popular vocal performance is reduced to its essential melodic shape. Without lyrics, the piano must communicate the longing contained in the composition, while bass and drums create a quiet sense of forward motion.

The first disc gains momentum with the New York Trio’s “Lover Come Back to Me.” The title carries emotional desperation, but the song’s structure often encourages musicians to play with energy and swing. The contrast is fundamental to jazz: sadness does not always move slowly, and romantic disappointment can be expressed through rhythmic confidence rather than melancholy.

The Dan Nimmer Trio follows with “Only Trust Your Heart,” returning the room to a gentler atmosphere. The album’s sequencing repeatedly shifts between motion and reflection, preventing its two-hour programme from becoming uniform. A hard-swinging performance is answered by a ballad; a familiar American standard is followed by a melody carrying Latin or European colour.

Renato Sellani’s trio brings an Italian lyrical quality to “My Foolish Heart,” one of the great songs of emotional uncertainty. The title suggests that the mind understands what the heart refuses to accept. That tension is perfectly suited to the piano, an instrument capable of presenting a clear melodic line while surrounding it with harmonies that complicate every apparent resolution.

The Claude Williamson Trio changes the landscape with “Samba Lhasa.” The title itself suggests movement between distant musical worlds, and the track adds another rhythmic colour to a programme already moving beyond conventional ballad-and-swing sequencing. It is a reminder that the history of the jazz piano trio includes more than the American songbook. Samba, bossa nova and other international rhythms have long expanded the possibilities available to pianists and rhythm sections.

Then comes Harold Mabern with “Only One.” The emotional weight of Mabern’s trio contrasts with some of the more delicate playing heard earlier. His presence broadens the album’s idea of elegance. Refinement does not always require lightness; it can also emerge through a strong touch, deep blues feeling and a rhythm section that gives every phrase physical authority.

The first half closes with the Vladimir Shafranov Trio performing “Whisper Not.” Benny Golson’s composition brings melodic intelligence and controlled swing to the end of the disc. The title may imply secrecy, but the trio’s musical statement is clear: the piano-trio tradition remains capable of sounding complete without any additional instrument. The official programme places these twelve performances together as the first part of the collection’s survey of Venus Records piano trios. (venusrecord.com)

The second disc opens with the John Hicks Trio playing “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You.” The choice feels almost like a direct continuation of the mood left behind by “Whisper Not,” but Hicks brings his own rhythmic strength to the standard. Sentimentality in jazz can become overly polished in less capable hands. Here, the piano remains grounded by the bass and drums, preventing the melody from losing its shape.

The Roland Hanna Trio follows with “Skylark,” a song that seems to float even before the first improvisation begins. Hanna’s presence introduces another highly individual piano voice, and the performance reinforces one of the album’s most important ideas: the same trio format can contain enormous stylistic variety. The instruments remain unchanged, yet the personality of the room is transformed whenever a new pianist sits at the keyboard.

Richard Wyands takes on “So in Love,” returning to Cole Porter and to the combination of sophistication and emotional intensity that has long made Porter’s songs essential jazz material. The arrangement allows passion to remain controlled, with the trio creating tension through timing and harmony rather than exaggerated dynamics.

A more unexpected moment arrives with the Rachel Z Trio’s interpretation of “Time to Say Goodbye.” Known widely outside jazz, the composition enters a different world when placed in the hands of a piano trio. The melody is removed from its grand vocal setting and examined through instrumental interaction. This kind of transformation is central to the lasting appeal of jazz: a piece does not need to begin as a jazz composition to become meaningful material for improvisers.

The Steve Kuhn Trio offers “Two for the Road,” a title that suits the album’s sense of movement. Kuhn’s lyrical approach creates a quieter journey, with the piano seeming to look backward even as the rhythm section continues forward. It is the sound of travel remembered rather than travel undertaken.

“Sway,” performed by the Romantic Jazz Trio, restores a Latin pulse. The melody is instantly accessible, but the trio format creates room for rhythmic conversation. The performance does not merely reproduce the familiar song; it examines why the tune continues to invite reinterpretation.

The Brazilian current deepens with the Stefano Bollani Trio playing “Falando de Amor.” The composition’s gentle harmonic movement brings warmth to the middle of the second disc, while Bollani’s presence continues the collection’s dialogue between American jazz standards and European interpretations of international repertoire.

Few songs are more closely associated with jazz piano than “Autumn Leaves,” yet the David Hazeltine Trio proves that repeated interpretation does not have to produce repetition. The melody is familiar enough to carry years of personal memory, but its harmonic structure remains open to new rhythmic and melodic decisions. Every pianist approaches those falling leaves from a different season.

The Andrea Pozza Trio follows with “Poor Butterfly,” another song shaped by longing. Pozza’s place in the sequence continues the Italian presence heard through Sellani and Bollani, giving the album the atmosphere of a journey between New York clubs and European jazz cafés.

“Summer Night,” performed by the Super Trio, briefly reverses the seasonal imagery. After the autumnal melancholy of the previous track, the title suggests warmth, open windows and music continuing after the city has grown quiet. The collection increasingly feels less like a conventional compilation and more like one extended night in which different trios take turns on the same stage.

The Denny Zeitlin Trio brings sophisticated movement to “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” The Gershwin standard is built around memory and the things that survive after a relationship has ended. Its lyric is absent, but the meaning remains inside the melody. The piano speaks the words without singing them.

The closing performance belongs to the Cyrus Chestnut Trio, which takes on “Swan Lake.” Ending with music associated with Tchaikovsky is a striking curatorial decision. After a programme dominated by standards, ballads and popular melodies, the trio turns toward classical repertoire and demonstrates how naturally another musical tradition can be absorbed into jazz. The official track listing places “Swan Lake” as the twenty-fourth and final selection, following Denny Zeitlin’s Gershwin interpretation. (venusrecord.com)

The choice provides an appropriate conclusion because it summarises the freedom at the centre of the collection. Jazz piano does not recognise permanent borders between Broadway, Latin music, European popular song and classical composition. Anything with melodic, rhythmic or harmonic possibility can enter the trio’s language.

For listeners searching for audiophile jazz piano, great piano trio recordings, relaxing jazz music, classic jazz standards or an introduction to the Venus Records sound, This Is Venus Jazz: Great Piano Trio offers an unusually broad doorway. Its 24 tracks include romance, swing, samba, cinematic melody and classical adaptation, yet the piano trio gives the collection a strong and recognisable centre.

The album also provides a revealing test of a hi-fi system. Piano is notoriously difficult to reproduce convincingly. The instrument must have weight without sounding heavy, brightness without hardness and scale without losing the intimacy of the room. Double bass must remain full and tuneful, while drums should reveal both impact and texture. When these elements are properly balanced, a piano-trio recording can create the impression that three musicians are performing directly between the loudspeakers.

But the enduring value of This Is Venus Jazz: Great Piano Trio is not technical. It lies in the differences between the musicians. The collection does not argue that there is one correct way to play a standard or lead a trio. It demonstrates the opposite. A song changes when Derek Smith plays it, changes again under Eddie Higgins and enters another emotional world through Harold Mabern, Steve Kuhn, David Hazeltine or Cyrus Chestnut.

When the final notes of “Swan Lake” disappear, the room returns to silence. The bench is empty again, the bass rests against its stand and the cymbals no longer move. Yet the album has left behind 24 different answers to the same question: how much music can three musicians create together?

This Is Venus Jazz: Great Piano Trio answers without hesitation. In the right hands, a piano, a bass and a set of drums are not a reduced orchestra. They are an entire world.