Trio Imagination, David Virelles, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille

LP version. Creative Inspirations is the debut of Trio Imagination: pianist David Virelles, whose music is rooted in, but never confined to, the Cuban influences of his upbringing, with bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille, two masters whose work has helped shape modern jazz for more than sixty years.

The group grew out of Trio 3, the band Workman and Cyrille shared for a quarter century with saxophonist Oliver Lake, which often invited pianists such as Geri Allen, Jason Moran, Marilyn Crispell, Vijay Iyer, Irène Schweizer and Alexander von Schlippenbach. When Lake retired, they turned to Virelles, already a guest of Trio 3 and a partner of Cyrille on The News (ECM) and on his own Continuum (Pi). For Virelles, playing inside one of the quintessential rhythm sections, with its own time feel, has been transformational.

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, the album is spacious, lyrical and inventive, three improvisers in close dialogue built on listening and trust, with Workman also on percussion and water drum. Released by Pi Recordings, LP (PiV115) on black vinyl and CD (Pi115) in a digipak.