Three Track Mind

SSC1803 2026-04-03

Track List

Doxy - 4:41
Autumn Leaves - 7:21
Darn That Dream - 5:41
Homeland - 8:15
Stella By Starlight - 8:16
All Our Things - 8:31
In The Footsteps Of Giants - 5:26
Autumn Leaves (Reprise) - 5:35
Turquoise - 4:23
Walter Theodore - 2:07

Musicians

Gary Versace - piano
Francois Moutin - bass
Rudy Royston - drums

It is often the case that the creation of successful art comes down to basic factors. For jazz music, talent and creativity are obvious essentials. But what usually drives music further is trust between performers and a sense of spontaneity in performance. Keyboard master Gary Versace aimed to harness all these elements on his new recording, Three Track Mind, a vibrant collection of spontaneous interpretations of classic standards and original compositions featuring bassist François Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston.

Versace has long been admired for his expressive touch on piano, organ, and accordion, appearing alongside a tremendous and eclectic of collaborators. His playing has adorned the work of artists as diverse as John Scofield, Maria Schneider, John Abercrombie, Rich Perry, Ingrid Jensen, Jonathan Kreisberg, Al Foster, and Kurt Elling to name just a few. Versace is also an accomplished composer and educator.

Though, opportunities came often to appear on stage with Royston and Moutin, this trio had never played all together as a unit before this session. Versace first met Royston while playing trio music concerts as a pianist with Ron Miles in Colorado, eventually joining Royston’s “Flatbed Buggy” band for two recordings as an accordionist. Versace and Moutin have found themselves on the bandstand sporadically with vocalists.

It was with this in mind that Versace invited Moutin and Royston to a two-day session at Chris Sulit’s Trading 8s Studio in July of 2024. Versace wanted to create an environment that replicated the feeling of a live set, interpreting well known standards conversationally and allowing each take to evolve as organically as possible.

No pre-conceived intros, endings, or arrangements were used at the session. Often Versace introduces the piece and Moutin and Royston would join in as they wished. Versace has included two takes of Joseph Kosma’s standard “Autumn Leaves” to show the different perspectives that often presented themselves if a song was performed but revisited later in the session.