Frans Vermeerssen Trio - The Trail (2023)

In Vermeerssen’s opinion the trio line up is the smallest complete band in jazz music. It has rhythm, melody, and counterpoint. A trio offers great opportunities to improvise in a very open way. Much of his favourite music is played by the trios of: Sonny Rollins “Live at the Village Vanguard” , “Way Out West”, Ornette Coleman “At the Golden Circle”, the Dutch trio of Ab Baars, trio albums by Arthur Blythe and of course “Air” with Henry Threadgill.
The trio line up is very challenging, both in composing and performing. After a long career in playing jazz Vermeerssen finally felt up to the challenge. With bass player Dion Nijland (who also participated in Vermeerssen’s quartet “Talking Cows”) and upcoming talent on drums Thomas Jaspers he has found the perfect match for his music.

After a series of gigs the Frans Vermeerssen Trio presents its first album “The Trail”. It consists of 12 new compositions of various character, all named after or referring to “Path” or “Road” in different languages. Vermeerssen considers improvising as traveling through all kinds of landscapes, with an open mind to whatever comes along. He is constantly in search of true improvising and using the compositions as sign posts or starting points. Improvisations are as spontaneous as possible, mainly guided by intuition and awareness of what is happening in the moment.

American jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell (born July 31, 1931) gives a beautiful performance in this editon of the Arkadia Records Ad Lib Series.

This series, now in 2023, becoming available to stream and on audio for the first time, is a collection of 46 concert TV programs presenting the best Jazz, Pop and Blues artists showcasing their skills with a Jazz flair. Seen on TV internationally, Ad Lib (filmed and recorded in 1980) was the first musical television series recorded in Stereo