Power of Three

Further Details

The next performance in our Master Albums series is dedicated to Power of Three by Michel Petrucciani—a once-in-a-lifetime summit meeting between three jazz giants: Petrucciani on piano, Jim Hall on guitar, and Wayne Shorter on saxophone.

The album was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1986, at a time when 23-year-old Petrucciani had already emerged as one of the most brilliant and distinctive pianists of his generation. A year earlier, he had signed with Blue Note, becoming the first French artist to be signed to the legendary label.

At Montreux, he met Jim Hall, one of the fathers of modern jazz guitar, for an intimate dialogue between piano and guitar. On three of the tracks, Wayne Shorter joins them, and the encounter becomes Power of Three.

The album’s power lies precisely in what it lacks: there is no bass, no drums, and no safety net of a rhythm section. The three musicians constantly exchange the roles of melody, accompaniment, and rhythm, listening and responding to one another in real time.

Alongside original compositions by all three—including Shorter’s Limbo, Petrucciani’s Morning Blues, and Hall’s Bimini—the album also features a beautiful version of Duke Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood.

There is also a small story behind the name: Petrucciani said that it was Wayne Shorter, a science-fiction enthusiast, who suggested calling the album Power of Three, after a book he was reading at the time. It proved to be a particularly fitting title for an album whose very essence is the power created when three independent musical voices meet.

Taking the place of the original trio will be Gadi Stern on piano, Yuval Drabkin on saxophone, and Ron Magril on guitar. As with the original ensemble, there will be no bass and no drums—only three musicians and the space created between them, in music where listening and dialogue are no less important than virtuosity.

A renewed encounter with an album that transformed a single moment on a stage in Montreux into a musical conversation that has remained alive four decades later.

Gadi Stern — Piano
Yuval Drabkin — Saxophone
Ron Magril — Guitar