James Fernando—the prodigiously talented pianist and composer known for equal parts mischief and mastery—steps boldly into a new chapter with Philly 3, his sixth album overall and the debut recording of his working trio. Across nine original compositions and a single, lovingly reimagined nod to Erroll Garner, Fernando positions himself at the intersection of virtuosity, humor, and serious compositional intent, pushing the piano-trio tradition forward while keeping listeners perpetually off balance and irresistibly locked into the groove. The album arrives via Spring Garden Records, a boutique label operated through the Community College of Philadelphia that spotlights the city’s music community while creating real-world learning opportunities for students.
The trio—Fernando on piano, Dan McCain on bass for most of the record (with Sam Harris guesting on “The Parisian” and “Like It Is”), and the incandescent drummer Kyon Williams—came together under unlikely circumstances in 2023, when Fernando received a last-minute call to assemble a group for a Kennedy Center performance with just three days’ notice. That first meeting happened onstage, and the chemistry was immediate. What followed was a rapid ascent into one of the most dynamic piano trios emerging from the region, with appearances at venues and universities across the country confirming the group’s depth, elasticity, and shared intuition.
After five albums as a leader and years of touring and collaboration, Fernando felt an urgency to document a trio that had coalesced so quickly and emphatically. Writing with the individual voices of McCain, Harris, and Williams in mind, he advanced compositional ideas he had been refining for years: metric modulation as narrative propulsion, multi-section forms that unfold like short films, and a harmonic language that draws as freely from classical counterpoint as from bebop lineage. The result is both laboratory and love letter—music that tests technique while remaining deeply personal, rooted in story, humor, and emotional clarity.
“As much as I love a big, ridiculous piano flourish,” Fernando says, “I wanted this record to feel like a conversation; fun, surprising, sometimes dark, always human. I also wanted to make music that couldn’t have been written by just anyone with a jazz degree—and certainly not by an algorithm. I crave music with breadth, humor, and contradictions.” That ethos animates every corner of Philly 3, a record that refuses to separate playfulness from rigor.
Fernando’s influences surface not as quotation but as lived vocabulary. Erroll Garner’s joyful swing is honored through a modernized take on “Like It Is,” while the technical clarity and lyricism of Oscar Peterson and Brad Mehldau inform Fernando’s phrasing and harmonic risk-taking. The adventurous rhythmic sensibility of Tigran Hamasyan is felt in the album’s odd-meter maneuvers, yet imitation is never the goal. Fernando instead situates himself as a next-generation voice in this lineage, committed to transcending genre boundaries and positioning the piano as a tool for cultural conversation rather than stylistic containment.
The album opens with “Persistence,” which begins in near-chamber territory with bowed bass and a classically inspired piano introduction before Williams reshapes the landscape with inventive, elastic drumming. A drum solo rides a vamp into a Vijay Iyer-esque pocket before yielding to a fierce piano improvisation marked by independent hands and surging momentum. “Unlikely Animal Friendships” unfolds as a miniature narrative film: a solo-piano opening in 5/8, a composed contrapuntal passage, an expansive melodic improvisation, and a tear-stained bass solo from McCain, culminating in a triumphant reprise that dramatizes tenderness across difference.
“The Parisian” juxtaposes odd meters, slap bass, and stride piano into something buoyant, swinging, and quietly powerful. Written with Harris in mind, it becomes a standout bass feature, equal parts charm and muscle. “Singularity” functions as Fernando’s human response to computer-generated music, beginning with machine-like processing before blooming into a montuno that asserts warmth, breath, and bodily presence. “Neon Kyon,” an ode to Williams’ luminous energy, fuses bop language, blues grit, and second-line swagger, revealing the trio’s near-telepathic communication.
“Beings On Toast,” sparked by a family joke from Fernando’s UK roots riffing on the classic British breakfast, imagines humans themselves as the “beings” served up on toast. The tune leans into absurdity through witty interplay, but beneath the humor lies a gentle philosophical inquiry about value, care, and consumption. “Potions” moves through balladry, quintuplet-driven modern jazz, and a final djent-like section, linking disparate musical worlds into a single haunted arc. “What’s the Password?” reframes bebop for 2025, using metric modulation and formal structure to carry Charlie Parker’s spirit into contemporary language. Closer “Like It Is” swings ferociously, offering an affectionate but unsentimental homage to Erroll Garner, with Harris returning on bass to lock in the feel and propel the trio forward.
Philly 3 ultimately challenges the jazz tradition to remain alive, playful, and unafraid. It presents James Fernando as both storyteller and technician, a musician capable of making audiences laugh, think, and move—sometimes all at once. The trio’s debut recording is not just a document of a band finding its footing, but an invitation to follow a group committed to craft, connection, and the joyful risk-taking that keeps jazz urgent and relevant.
2026 Tour Dates
Feb 7 – Williamsburg Music Center – Brooklyn, NY – 9:30pm
Feb 17 – CPAC – Green Valley, AZ – 7pm
Feb 18 – Central Arizona College – Casa Grande, AZ – 7pm
Feb 19 – The Century Room – Tucson, AZ – 6:30pm
Feb 20 – The Ravenscroft – Scottsdale, AZ – 7pm
Feb 22 – Davies Concert Series – Temple Hills, MD – 4pm
Feb 28 – Sharp 9 Gallery – Durham, NC – 7:30–9:30pm
Mar 1 – Sharp 9 Gallery – Durham, NC – 2–4pm
Mar 2 – UNC Pembroke – Pembroke, NC – Concert 7pm
Mar 7 – The Mainstay – Rock Hall, MD – 7:30pm
Mar 20 – Plainfield Performing Arts Center – Plainfield, NJ – 7pm
Mar 21 – Concord Community Music School – Concord, NH – 7pm
Mar 22 – New York State Museum – Albany, NY – 4pm
Apr 12 – Levine Jazz Fest – Bethesda, MD – Free show
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