Openness Trio, the debut album from Los Angeles–based musicians Nate Mercereau, Josh Johnson, and Carlos Niño, is now out on Blue Note Records. The release captures a rare sense of connection and creativity from three free-thinking artists whose collective resume includes collaborations with André 3000, Meshell Ndegeocello, Kamasi Washington, Shabaka, Sam Gendel, Jeff Parker, and Makaya McCraven. Together, they’ve crafted a deeply resonant, exploratory work that feels both grounded in the natural world and unbound by it.
The album’s centerpiece, “Openness,” follows the radiant “Hawk Dreams” and embodies the record’s ethos of trust, listening, and pure communication. Across its five expansive tracks—each recorded in a different outdoor or intimate setting around Los Angeles and Ventura County—the trio captures music as an act of presence.
From the Ojai hills overlooking the Topatopa Mountains to a cozy Elysian Park living room, an Echo Park courtyard “Garden of Electronics,” a pepper tree session in Topanga Canyon, and the “Oak Tree Cathedral” at Churchill Orchard in Ojai, Openness Trio transforms these spaces into living, breathing instruments.
Josh Johnson recalls their early Ojai session: “I remember so fondly being together and playing in the orchard in early 2021. It was the first time I’d played music with people in a long time, and I remember feeling so connected. The trio became 3D to me that day—soaring from the start.” A moment from that day lives on in the luminous single “Openness.”
“‘Openness’ is the ideal word and description for what is happening here,” says Nate Mercereau. “Listening, immersive emoting, deep communication, discovery, trust, exploration, and arriving at the moment to witness and share where we are, where we’re going, and where we’ve been—these are all things that allow our music to happen in the way that it does.”
Carlos Niño adds, “It is very rare to feel so able to trust anyone so much. It expands your awareness of yourself and your sense of being trustworthy. My favorite thing about playing with this trio is in the title: Openness. The totally psychic communication and connection we have together is electric and deeply nourishing. It is open.”
More than an album, Openness Trio feels like a conversation between three kindred spirits—an offering of sound, space, and sensitivity that invites listeners to simply be present.
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