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Now available! We've Got Rhythm - the new release from the Big Three Trio!

Soundbytes from the Big Three Trio's new release I Got Rhythm
I've Got The World On A String Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me Oo Shoo Bee Doo Bee Dr Jazz

Reviews



Cadence Magazine         
July 2006   (Page 106)
JOHN COCUZZI, JOHN PREVITI & BIG JOE MAHER: 
The Big Three Trio, WE GOT RHYTHM, 
BEEZWAX 2443A.

Surrey with the Fringe on Top / I’ve Got the World on a String / Ooh Shoo Bee Doo Bee / Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me / I Got Rhythm / Marielle / Dead Presidents / Since I Fell for You / Ain’t the Gravy Good? / Blues for Mr. Crab / God Bless the Child / What’ll I Do? / Dr. Jazz. 61:07.
Cocuzzi, p, el p, vcl; Previti, b; Maher, d, vcl. 
Oct 2003, Catonsville, MD.



Singer-drummer Big Joe Maher fronts the Big Three Trio, joined by John Previti on bass and John Cocuzzi on vibraphone.

  

 

  The Big Three Trio plays Straight-Ahead Jazz through its program of originals and standards. Theirs is a session of piano trio delights containing much rhythmic pride. The Blues runs through everything that they interpret. Drummer Big Joe Maher sings and propels with a loose demeanor. His “Dead Presidents” recalls the great times that Joe Williams gave us with Count Basie. As the trio takes “I Got Rhythm” for a ride, Maher’s crisp snare drum breaks into stride with power. His “Blues for Mr. Crab” provides an interesting journey that drives with a “Poinciana” rhythmic undercurrent. There’s no doubt that The Big Three Trio remains grounded in tradition. “Dr. Jazz” explores an earlier era, while “Ooh Shoo Bee Doo Bee” borrows from Dizzy Gillespie. 
  The trio’s history lesson comes with spontaneity and grit. Each selection finds the three artists inspired. Pianist John Cocuzzi wrote “Marielle,” a timeless Blues vocal that endears the listener intuitively. He interprets “Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me” at the electric piano with the song’s original sentiment, unleashing its Blues overtones. “Ain’t the Gravy Good?” puts both vocalists to work in a humorous escapade, while “God Bless the Child” is rendered with heartfelt passion. With a recommended program of standards and similar musical state-ments, The Big Three Trio makes a lasting impression through its timeless interpretations.    Jim Santella

Jazz trio plays in Denton, Chestertown this weekend
January 27, 2005

DENTON — Carnival in Caroline, the free midwinter entertainment series presented by the Caroline County Council of Arts, continues with the return of the Big Three Jazz Trio, fronted by Big Joe Maher, at the Caroline County Public Library tonight at 7. Solo Cup in Federalsburg and the Denton Bank & Trust are sponsoring the concert.

Joseph Maher a/k/a Big Joe, has been a performing drummer/singer for the past 30 years. His list of credits is like a Who’s Who of blues and jazz. He performed in his high school jazz band, The Starliners, with the likes of greats such as Clark Terry, Urbie Green, Mudell Lowe and James Moody. After high school, Joe went on the road with his own jazz trio, and over time shared the stage and sidemen with artists like Jimmy Witherspoon, Bullmoose Jackson, James “Thunderbird” Davis, Nappy Brown, Otis Rush, Earl King and more. In the late 1980s, after performing with and managing a nine-piece swing band, The Uptown Rhythm Kings, and after a few years as drummer and touring with the Tom Principato Band, Joe formed his own 5-piece blues jump group, Big Joe & the Dynaflows. In the mid-’90s he was also musical coordinator for Mick Fleetwood’s club in Alexandria, Va. A Dynaflows release “I’m Still Swingin” was named Best Blues Recording in 1998.

 John Cocuzzi, vibraphonist, has been performing for more than a decade in Old Town Alexandria, Va. at the 219 Restaurant. He has also been running two shows on the BET Jazz Network/The Jazz Central Show, and has been in festival performances from New Jersey to Atlanta to San Diego. He has performed with Bucky and John Pizarelli, Russell Malone, Warren and Allen Vache, Ed Polcer, Joe Ascione and Dick Hyman, among many world-class musicians. In D.C. he has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Corcoran Art Gallery, the Smithsonian, and Washington’s premier jazz club, Blues Alley; and in Baltimore at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

 John Previti performs on upright bass. He started playing with Big Joe in 1994 after 18 years with guitar giant Danny Gatton.

 If you can’t make it to tonight’s concert — or if you like what you hear and want to hear more, the Big Three Trio will perform at Andy’s, in Chestertown, Saturday night around 9 p.m.