The Trio

Will McCrea (Piano)

My musical journey began on the clarinet, which I begrudgingly played for about a year - I was only 8 or 9. I performed once in front of a crowd, but that was all the action I saw as a clarinetist. It's a shame I didn't keep going because it would've been my route the saxophone... As Secondary School began, and through the ages of 11 - 14, I didn't involve myself with music at all, simply because I wasn't interested. But by the time I was 15 I found the electric guitar, which I still play & enjoy to this day. I was obsessed with the act of shredding - specifically the music of Eddie Van Halen. I found myself trying to copy his playing the best I could, and I was obsessed with live bootleg videos from the early 80s (when David Lee Roth was still in the band). I also took guitar lessons at this time which lasted for about a year and I really enjoyed them because I was engaging with someone who was much better at music than me.

After the 'shred phase', I had built up relatively good dexterity in my fingers and could move them quite quickly and confidently. But I had also discovered my thirst for harmony and understanding chords. My chordal vocabulary on the guitar was okay and I understood some of them, but I disliked the difficulty of visualising these chords. The fretboard is a bit of maze that requires ample patience to understand, but I was too obsessed with finding cool chords. This is when the piano entered my life; I must have been 16. At first it was just a tool really. I never started it the way I did with the clarinet or guitar (i.e with books or lessons). I would sit at the piano with guitar in-lap attempting to translate guitar chords to piano. I did this religiously for a few months.

Before I go any further I should mention that my parents are musicians too. They are both pianists and organists and have been teaching these instruments for many years. But surprisingly, I never took any lessons from my parents. My piano playing is pretty much a result of self-directed learning, and I didn't do any 'formal training' on the instrument. Everything I can play now has come from either playing with others, listening to the music, watching people play, talking to musicians, YouTube, or through my own self-discovery.

And speaking of self-discovery...

About a year before I started University I discovered jazz. And what better way to apply these cool chords than to learn how to play jazz! As soon as Uni started I was jamming with fellow students, forming bands, and playing gigs. It was an extremely lucrative time for me. The rate at which I progressed was just phenomenal, and I am sometimes shocked at how quickly everything seemed to fall into place. I met James and Matt at the start of my second year (2022), and was immediately impressed by their musicianship. What caught my eye about James was his touch (specifically on his snare hand), and Matt could walk his bass lines till the end of the earth!

So I thought to myself: "man, this guys are fantastic. I need to play with them more". And then the trio began. Since the start I've always felt that we've grown together and I've loved working with them so far. I am very proud to call them my band mates.

Matt Collens (Bass)

My first real introduction to Jazz was through playing with my secondary school's Cool Jazz ensemble. I'd been teaching myself bass from YouTube videos and online tabs for about a year, but being the only bassist of any calibre in my school, I was their best chance at completing their rhythm section for 2019. It was a huge challenge. I'd never had a formal bass lesson and I couldn't read sheet music, but I tried my best and eventually I got somewhere. I managed to teach myself to read notation, and by the time Christmas came around, I was playing in my first real concert. 

After that, I took just about every chance I could to play my bass in school. After a brief stint in a Django Reinhardt guitar ensemble, I was invited to the Big Band, led by the incredibly talented saxophonist, Mike Coates. This is where things really took off. The sheets were more challenging than in Cool Jazz, but the payoff was huge. Most of the boys I was playing with had began their music careers young in the school orchestra and it showed - they were seriously talented and every year they'd get to play a gig at Ronnie Scott's . We were playing anything from Basie to Jaco, and being thrown in them really helped me to develop.

Later on, once I'd moved up through to sixth form, Coatesy decided it was time to assemble his A-team and form the school's very first Jazz Combo. I'd never played bebop before, but like all challenges I'd faced before, I gave it a go and went from there. I finally developed some walking skills and a seed of appreciation for more intimate jazz outfits was planted.

Time flew by and eventually I was at University. I was delighted to find that Reading had a Big Band and luckily for me, I made it past the audition and got a seat. One of my 11 first year flatmates,  James, had unsuccessfully auditioned to be our drummer, but soon found a home in the Uni's Jazz band. They already had an established bassist, so for the first time in years I was down to just one group. However, things were about to change... 

The pianist of Big band that year was none other than Mr. Will McCrea himself. I was blown away by his playing, even more so after finding out he'd only started teaching himself how to play 3 years earlier, and I was so flattered when he asked me to form a group with him and James, who he'd joined in Jazz band. I never thought that my music career would develop into anything beyond playing in ensembles, so the success we've had as a trio has been really rewarding for me. 

I've been teaching myself Double Bass for a few months and have gained enough confidence to start playing it for the Big Band and have plans to eventually incorporate it into the trio.

James Cooper-Lloyd (Drums)

I began by playing in very rigid circumstances and became much more free as time went on. I spent much of my early years perfecting technique and tempo. These skills would become crucial to honing my own personal style of drumming.  I do not come from a particularly musical family (save for my uncle and granddad). Both of my parents work in the NHS and my sister is a languages teacher. My musical journey is a matter of fate. 

My passion for drumming was realised in 2015 when I was around 13 years old during a session at my local Air Cadet Squadron. I never had any particular inkling to play the drums or be involved in music at all as a child as I had always been interested in other things such as building model aircraft or Lego. I remember the feeling of indifference which washed over me when I was allocated to the Squadron Drum Corps, as I would have preferred to have been on the 'painting table', building and painting model aircraft. This feeling persisted until my first attempt at performing a single-stroke roll. From this moment I was hooked! I became skilled in playing on the move and went on to compete in a few regional competitions, eventually reaching the role of lead drummer.  

Although I was playing locally and with the Sussex Wing Marching Band,  I found that I wanted more out of drumming. In 2018, my mum encouraged me to switch to learning on the kit with the Ollie Boorman Drum Academy. Ollie taught all of the crucial skills I would need to become proficient on the drum kit. It was also around this time that my mum bought me a second hand Premier Olympic kit, which I would wear out over the next four-or-so years.

It was around this time that I discovered my love for jazz. I became obsessed with old Hollywood and the music which accompanied and defined the golden age of cinema. From this, I developed a love for Big Band, particularly Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman (to name a few). 

During the Pandemic, I developed an interest in 'Jass' (so called until the 1910s). I was very interested in experimenting with the sounds that can be made by drums, so I began to tune the drums haphazardly in an attempt to imitate the old goatskin effect of the 'Trap Kits' associated with early jazz. This, of course, influenced my approach to playing to be more of a 20s - 30s swing style. 

For Music

2022 was not one of my best years. Alongside the stress of leaving home for the first time, my family suffered the unexpected loss of my uncle. Marcus was also a drummer and he was always so keen on encouraging me to carry on with the art. The shock was really difficult to deal with and I needed an escape. I had just flunked an audition with the University Big Band, so I felt as if music was not for me. 

The stars seemed to align when I met Emily, the then leader of the Reading University Jazz Band, at a Ballroom and Latin Society dancing event (I cannot dance, as I quickly discovered). I was invited to join the jazz band as their drummer and I have remained there ever since. It is no exaggeration to say that this connection saved me. I found a connection with music which I had never felt before. I think that music became a part of me. 

Since then I have fostered a love for classical music. I've been lucky to experience the joy of W A Mozart's music, namely ,Die Zauberflöte" and ,Die Hochzeit des Figaro".  I have also developed a love for German folk music, in particular the music of Schubert. 

The Trio and Bebop 

I met Will for the first time in 2022 when he was the pianist in the University Jazz Band.  What struck me was his huge knowledge of jazz vocabulary and his stylistic and harmonic choices which are distinct to his style of playing. In 2023, Will invited me to become a founding member of his trio alongside Matt. This was a very exciting time as it is easy for the drums to overpower the rest of the band in a small setting. This required me to allow for the intricacies of Wills' playing to show. This new chapter introduced me to Bebop

Bebop was revolutionary in more than just the sense that previous notions of 'old jazz' became challenged through mad chords and fast tempos associated with Coltrane, Parker etc. The real revolution surrounds the role of the drums. Drummers such as Max Roach, Papa Joe Jones and Tony Williams were the trailblazers in the field, through throwing out the four to the floor theme common to early swing music (see for example: Sing Sing Sing - Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (Gene Krupa, drums).  

Conclusion

I really look forward to continuing to develop with Will and Matt. We've come a long way since founding the Trio in 2023 and we have so much more potential to realise. Watch this space! 

James