Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein & Bill Stewart - Rhombus

Organist Larry Goldings, guitarist Peter Bernstein, and drummer Bill Stewart reconvene their celebrated trio on RHOMBUS, marking 35 years of history together exploring bold repertoire by Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, Abdullah Ibrahim, Monk, and Irving Berlin, along with memorable originals.

When they first took the stage at NYC’s Augie’s Jazz Bar (now Smoke Jazz Club,) organist Larry Goldings, guitarist Peter Bernstein, and drummer Bill Stewart would never have imagined that more than 35 years later they’d not only still be working together, but that they would be considered by many to be the gold standard for the modern jazz organ trio.

That ascension hasn’t stopped the trio from searching for ways to delve deeper or to explore new terrain. Their remarkable new album, RHOMBUS, finds Goldings, Bernstein, and Stewart drawing inspiration from some of the most revered composers in jazz history, artists – many of them pianists - whose music may not seem a natural fit for the organ trio. While the trio’s sound flows outwards from the great tradition of organ trio jazz, this repertoire is brilliantly curated to lead them into the unexpected, ideal territory for their perceptive explorations.

RHOMBUS includes pieces from such monumental composers as Keith Jarrett, Randy Weston, Abdullah Ibrahim, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, and Irving Berlin. These are all groundbreaking musical thinkers whose profound works speak directly and succinctly through beautiful melodies, built on a foundation of immense depth and mystery.
“We’re still discovering new freedoms through playing with each other, having grown as musicians and as people,” Goldings adds. “We’re all very eclectic in our musical tastes, and the continuing challenge is to figure out how to make these disparate compositions sound like us.”

Ultimately, the attraction of this trio has little to do with repertoire, innovation, or reinvention – it’s about camaraderie, the way that their experiences together and apart since we’ve last heard them are revealed in subtle new shadings, stunning dynamics, striking vulnerability and expression, joyous humor, and penetrating conversation. Their chemistry on RHOMBUS is breathtaking, but they’ve already evolved further from here.