Trialogue - First Flight

Trialogue comprises three Cambridge scientists; neuroscientist and Dankworth Prize-winning composer Chris McMurran (piano), physicist Arvin Vaghela (bass) and biologist Alexander Blackwell (drums). Debut album 'First Flight' features compositions from all three members, that draw on their scientific backgrounds for inspiration for example, Bhaskara's Wheel describes the fruitless quest to develop a perpetual motion machine, whilst the blues number Mother Tongue is a transcription of our own genome: the gene FOXP2, which was central to humans evolving speech and language.

The collective say: Central to our work is the musical world of the piano trio, a format with seemingly endless soundscapes. For us, this ensemble allows the greatest amount of musical conversation and discussion: a trialogue. We are conscious to pay tribute to the legacy of the piano trio, as well as to stretch its possibilities. In this endeavour we have a lifetime of work ahead of us. Our music comprises both original compositions and the reimagining of standards and other melodies. Musically the group have exchanged influences through the trio tradition, from Oscar Peterson to Brad Mehldau and Avashai Cohen, but the tracks on the album also draw widely from Beethoven, Alfred Schnittke and Jimi Hendrix.