Zoo Too Trio Redefines the Jazz Trio Format with Poetry Legroom, Out May 16

Zoo Too Trio — the boundary-pushing new ensemble featuring Michael Cain (piano), Keith Price (guitar), and Pheeroan akLaff (drums) — is set to release their debut album, Poetry Legroom, on May 16, 2025, via Shifting Paradigm Records. With an innovative take on the jazz trio format, the album challenges conventions and embraces a lush mix of jazz, pop, electronic, and cinematic textures, offering a fresh, fearless voice in modern improvisational music.

A Bold Sonic Vision

Zoo Too Trio breaks from the traditional piano-bass-drums mold. Instead, the absence of a bass instrument allows for new harmonic freedom and rhythmic fluidity. The result? An immersive soundscape where each voice has room to expand, interact, and breathe.

• Michael Cain brings decades of experience at the intersection of jazz, classical, and electronic music. His harmonic sophistication and rich improvisational vocabulary form the core of the trio’s sonic identity. With credits including Jack DeJohnette, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Ravi Coltrane, Cain’s musicality is world-class.

• Pheeroan akLaff infuses the project with powerful, evolving rhythms. As a drummer who has played alongside Cecil Taylor, Henry Threadgill, and Anthony Braxton, akLaff’s command of rhythm transcends genre, anchoring the trio with depth and fire.

• Keith Price, a New Zealand-based guitarist originally from Canada, contributes a uniquely atmospheric voice that blends folk, jazz, and experimental influences. His guitar work is haunting, exploratory, and filled with space — a perfect foil to Cain’s piano and akLaff’s drums.

Exploring Legroom in Sound and Space

Recorded in Brooklyn, NY and produced by Cain, Poetry Legroom is more than a debut — it's a manifesto. From the cinematic drift of “Winter Fog Morning” to the angular urgency of “Alligator Kangaroo,” the album traverses wide emotional and sonic terrain. Tracks like “Waxing Gibbous” stretch out in long, meditative arcs, while “Waltz for Gwen” (written by Ron Blake) evokes a tender, lyrical glow.

The album’s title, Poetry Legroom, speaks to the group’s philosophy: space to stretch, room to move, and freedom to explore the poetic in sound.

Full Tracklist:

1. O’Neil’s Bay (4:07)

2. Poetry Legroom Okinawa Children (7:32)

3. Waltz For Gwen (6:28)

4. Song 1 Day 1 (7:27)

5. Waxing Gibbous (9:48)

6. Solodos (3:24)

7. Alligator Kangaroo (6:23)

8. Winter Fog Morning (6:09)

9. Friends and Whanau (2:20)

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With Poetry Legroom, Zoo Too Trio has created an expansive listening experience that’s both cerebral and emotional — at once grounded in tradition and soaring into new creative realms. The album drops May 16, 2025, on all major streaming platforms and in physical formats via Shifting Paradigm Records.

Stay tuned for release events and future tour dates — this is a trio you’ll want to experience live.

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