Jeff Ballard Trio
Known from the Brad Mehldau Trio, FLY, and Chick Corea New Trio, Jeff Ballard steps out from his sideman duties to lead this all-star trio. With sounds ranging from forward-looking modern jazz to traditional African and Latin rhythms to heavy metal intensity, Ballard could have found no better partners than the Benin-born Loueke and Puerto Rico native Zenón.
The two have imbibed the rhythms of their homelands and incorporated them into their own expansive sonic palettes, making them ideal foils for Ballard’s polyrhythmic approach. Loueke was mentored by Herbie Hancock and Terence Blanchard, and has worked with legends like Jack DeJohnette and Charlie Haden as well as peers such as Gretchen Parlato, Esperanza Spalding, and Robert Glasper. Zenón is a Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow who has forged a distinctive blend of jazz and Latin American folkloric music. He is also a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective and has worked with the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Fred Hersch, David Sánchez, and Steve Coleman.