Juan Chiavassa to Release THREE ON THREE on Whirlwind

Juan Chiavassa is following up his debut album, Fourth Generation, with a new trio recording. In between the two releases he has continued playing with the Mike Stern band and produced Julieta Rada's Grammy-nominated album Candombe. On Three on Three, out November 20, 2026 on Whirlwind Recordings, Chiavassa turns to the classic piano trio format with David Kikoski on piano and Boris Kozlov on bass. 'Making my own album is like a treat to myself,' Chiavassa says. 'I'm here in New York surrounded by these great musicians, giants who carry the direct line of the legacy down to us.'

Chiavassa chose Kikoski and Kozlov in part because both played in the trio of drummer Roy Haynes, whose influence runs through the record. 'Roy is my favorite drummer,' Chiavassa says. 'He's loose and sharp at the same time. He played with an openness in a way that nobody really did before. I've always loved the piano trio format; it's so pleasing to the ear, and it can be so interactive and dynamic, so gentle or so aggressive, like a continuous conversation. This album gave me the chance to explore this great legacy with two masters of the form, and to play tribute to Roy and the inspiration he's given to so many.'

The album opens with Pat Metheny's 'James,' a tune that was a regular part of Roy Haynes's trio book with Kikoski and Kozlov, with Kozlov taking the first solo of the record. 'He makes me sound so good,' Chiavassa says. 'Satellite' is an up-tempo take on John Coltrane that puts Kikoski's fast lines to the test: 'I wanted to showcase David on a fast swinger with changes and he just eats it up; he's so killing on this tune.' 'Waltz' is a Chiavassa original written in the conversational style of Bill Evans, while Sonny Rollins's 'Grand Street,' originally cut with a brass ensemble, is reworked here as a minor-key trio feature with Chiavassa on brushes. 'Weeksville,' named for Chiavassa's Brooklyn neighborhood, is an original built on a rolling 12/8 minor blues in the McCoy Tyner tradition. Kikoski's 'Train of Thought' serves as the record's bossa, opening with an intricate solo introduction before its wistful melody. 'Vilia,' a lesser-known Coltrane composition, sits in a medium-up New York swing pocket, and Kikoski's 'E' turns toward freer territory with an extended improvisation. The record closes with 'Darn That Dream,' a last-minute studio addition that returns to Evans's conversational approach.

'I wanted to put myself into Roy's world with these tunes, as everyone has a link back to him, to pay tribute to his greatness,' Chiavassa says. 'It's just such so much fun playing this music with these guys. It's like the ideas never end, you know, it's just effortless.'

Track Listing

1. James

2. Satellite

3. Waltz

4. Grand St.

5. Weeksville

6. Train of Thought

7. Vilia

8. E

9. Darn That Dream

Personnel

Juan Chiavassa, drums

David Kikoski, piano

Boris Kozlov, upright bass

Album Credits

Recorded at Bacque Recording, Roselle, NJ

Engineered by Luis Bacque

Mixed and mastered by Francisco Amenabar

Produced by Juan Chiavassa

Executive producer: Michael Janisch

Photography by Marzio Fulfaro and Luis Bacque

Layout and design for CD & LP by Brian Hanlon (OGMedia Group)

Catalogue number: WR4957

Barcode: 5065024546212

About Juan Chiavassa

Juan Chiavassa is an Argentine drummer, producer, composer, and session musician from Venado Tuerto, based in Brooklyn. Born in 1991, he began playing drums at age nine and studied at Berklee College of Music on scholarship after attending Escuela de Música Contemporánea, receiving the Avedis Zildjian Scholarship Award in 2015. He has performed with Mike Stern, Paquito D'Rivera, Esperanza Spalding, George Garzone, Russell Malone, John Patitucci, Jimmy Haslip, David Kikoski, Leo Genovese, Benito Gonzalez, Jeremy Pelt, Eric Alexander, Leni Stern, Pedrito Martinez, Bob Moses, Ruben Rada, and Omar Rodríguez-López, among others, and appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with Residente and Bad Bunny in 2019. As a producer, he produced and arranged Julieta Rada's 2024 album Candombe, nominated for Best Folkloric Album at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards and featuring Fito Páez, Rubén Rada, iLe, Pedrito Martinez, and Lionel Loueke. He released two collaborative albums through his Neverpony project in 2020 and 2022, and in 2025 released his debut album as a bandleader, Fourth Generation, on Whirlwind Recordings, featuring John Patitucci, Mike Stern, George Garzone, Leo Genovese, Pedrito Martinez, and Federico Peña. Chiavassa continues to tour internationally and works across jazz, Latin music, R&B, soul, hip-hop, rock, blues, pop, experimental, and world music.

About David Kikoski

David Kikoski is a pianist who emerged on the New York jazz scene in the 1980s. He has recorded and performed with Roy Haynes, Bob Berg, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Ravi Coltrane, Chris Potter, Dave Holland, Roy Hargrove, Donny McCaslin, Mike Stern, Chick Corea, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Toots Thielemans, Tom Harrell, Marcus Miller, Pat Martino, Jack DeJohnette, and Billy Hart. As a bandleader he has released more than 20 albums, including Presage (1989) with Eddie Gomez and Al Foster and Consequences (2015) with Jeff 'Tain' Watts and Christian McBride, followed by Phoenix Rising (2019) and Sure Thing (2021) on HighNote Records. A longtime member of the Charles Mingus Big Band, co-leader of BeatleJazz, member of Opus Five, and part of the collective Something Else!, Kikoski won a Grammy in 2011 with the Charles Mingus Big Band for Live at the Jazz Standard, received a Grammy nomination in 2001 with Roy Haynes for Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker, and earned another Grammy nomination in 2024 with the Mingus Big Band for The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions.

About Boris Kozlov

Boris Kozlov is a Moscow-born, three-time Grammy-winning bassist, composer, and arranger who has worked on the New York and international jazz scenes for more than three decades. He co-leads Opus 5 and has served for over 20 years as bassist, arranger, and musical director of the Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, earning a Grammy for Live at the Jazz Standard. He has performed and recorded with Michael Brecker, John Blake, Ray Barretto, Lew Tabackin, David Kikoski, Alex Sipiagin, Jean-Michel Pilc, John Di Martino, and The Manhattan Transfer. His playing and arrangements appear on more than 160 recordings, including nine Grammy-nominated albums and Eddie Palmieri's Grammy-winning album Simpático, and in 2019 he performed on Brian Lynch's Grammy-winning album The Omni-American Book Club. Kozlov is also active as a solo bass artist and educator, presenting masterclasses around the world.

Photo Credit: Marzio Fulfaro and Luis Bacque

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