The Liquid Spirit Trio
(a.k.a. The Tom Ball Trio)

Tom Ball - piano

Kevin Sanders - bass

Gary Evans - drums

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The piano trio is the classic format for so many iconic pianists; Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Jason Rebello, Keith Jarrett, John Taylor, Brad Mehldau, all influences. This trio has been for some years the de facto  house band at the Liquid Spirit Nights Jazz club in South Devon. They form 3/4 of several of Devon's best known jazz quartets, including the Neil Maya Quartet, the Annika Skoogh Quartet and from time to time the Pete Canter Quartet. Between them, it is probably fair to say that Tom, Kev and Gary have backed all of Devon's modern jazz musicians, and many of the pop and function bands too!  

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The trio has also accompanied several great visiting artists from the national UK jazz scene including Martin Dale, (tenor sax), Andreas Panayi (saxophones), Gareth Lockrane (flutes) and Nigel Price (guitar) at venues in Torquay, Ashburton, Tetbury and Totnes. The trio has become a popular choice for such visiting stars as they combine cohesion, great listening and preparation with a palpable sense of fun (especially Gary). 

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From 2024 onwards, having "paid their dues"backing all these star soloists, the trio is making its own mark on the scene. They bring a new and intriguing repertoire covering aspects of jazz rarely heard on the South West scene, including choice standards, compositions by all of the pianists listed above, thoughtfully crafted original tunes, and novel arrangements of  well-known modern anthems from Coldplay and Radiohead to Disney tunes and Nursery rhymes - all wrapped up and re-imagined with a jazz-inflected sensibility. Some of these ideas can be heard on Tom's first album, Gemini, which included Wonderwall (Oasis), Careless Whisper (George Michael), Use Somebody (Kings of Leon) and Lovely Day (Bill Withers).