Pianist Andrés Vial To Release "Gang of Three"

Montreal Pianist Andrés Vial To Release "Gang of Three," Modern Jazz Piano Trio Album of Original Compositions With South American & African Influences

   

Andres Vial Gang of Three Gang of Three, the stunning new album of originals by Montreal pianist Andrés Vial (pronounced Vee-al) and his fifth as a leader, was written over a two-year period marked by major life events -- becoming a first-time father, and returning to university to complete a Master's degree in jazz piano. It will be released October 4 on the Chromatic Audio label.

Described as "a crisp, inventive pianist" (Stuart Broomer, The WholeNote) who "eschews the obvious to dig a little deeper" (Mike Greenblatt, The Aquarian Weekly), Vial received critical acclaim internationally for his 2018 Thelonious Monk tribute album, Sphereology Volume One, featuring guitarist Peter Bernstein.

For Gang of Three, Vial reunited with bassist Dezron Douglas (who also appeared on Sphereology Volume One) and collaborated for the first time with drummer Eric McPherson. Vial was "inspired by the deep musicality and in-the-moment risk-taking that Eric and Dez brought to the music. These cats never play a song the same way twice!"

The title track is a tribute to the friendship of three bebop piano icons -- Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, and Elmo Hope. After naming the song, however, Vial began thinking about the different trios in his own life: "I love playing in a piano trio precisely because of the magic that can happen between a pianist, bassist, and drummer in that setting," says Vial. "And now that my wife and I have a son, I live with my very own gang of three!"

"Chacarera para Wayne" finds the pianist simultaneously revisiting his roots with a folkloric Argentinian rhythm and paying tribute to Wayne Shorter. "After I wrote the piece," says Vial, "I realized that the pedal point harmony and dark, sparse melodic theme showed the compositional influence of Wayne Shorter, so it made sense to dedicate it to him." 

Other highlights include "Ferguson," a 12/8 gospel ballad inspired by Jason 'Blackbird' Selman's poem "Ferguson/St. Louis Blues"; and "Montaigne," which employs an off-kilter samba funk groove and unusual chord colors that echo dualities and paradoxes discussed in the works of the16th-century French philosopher for whom the song is named.

"Put Your Spikes In" draws inspiration from Central African Gbaya mbira music, while "Samba Fantasma" is named for a friendly ghost known to reside in the concert hall where Vial rehearses.

Andrés Vial was born January 25, 1979, in Montreal. His father was an amateur classical pianist and as early as he can remember Andrés was sitting at the piano improvising little songs, beginning piano lessons shortly thereafter. He also learned from the classical, Latin, and pop records that he heard around the house, until the day when he was 11 that his mother came home with a copy of John Coltrane's Blue Train. "I was just floored," he says. "That was the record that really changed the course of my life, and I was obsessed with it for years to come." He joined his middle school and high school jazz bands and also began playing drums and vibraphone. 

Andrés studied jazz drums and classical percussion at a college in Montreal, before transferring to the New School in New York and completing a degree in jazz piano. Among his teachers were Bill Charlap, Hal Galper, Joe Chambers, and Buster Williams.

After graduation, Vial returned to his hometown, where he recorded his first three albums: Trio/Septet (2007) featuring Malika Tirolien (Bokante, Snarky Puppy), The Infinite Field (2011), and conception/oblivion (2015).

In 2018, he released the critically acclaimed Andrés Vial Plays Thelonious Monk: Sphereology Volume One, a quartet outing featuring Peter Bernstein, Dezron Douglas, Rodney Green, Martin Heslop, and André White. Tor Hammerø (Nettavisen) described Vial as "a brilliant Monk interpreter and pianist." And Scott Yanow (The New York City Jazz Record) wrote that "the high musicianship and obvious affection for the songs make Sphereology Volume One a worthy effort."

Although he has been working steadily on the next Sphereology volumes, Vial didn't want to interrupt the documentation process of his own development as a composer -- hence the arrival of Gang of Three. "I'm looking forward to playing gigs with Dezron and Eric," he says, "and delving deeper into this material. We're just at the beginning of working as a trio together."