3/4 Peace (read: three for Peace) is the chamber jazz trio of Belgian reed player (alto sax, alto flute, clarinet) Ben Sluijs, Belgian-Peruvian pianist Christian Mendoza, and double bass player French Brice Soniano (who plays with Sluijs in Mendoza Group, and the more experimental Carate Urio Orchestra). This trio introduces an elegant, contemplative European classical touch to jazz improvisations and was inspired by seminal chamber jazz trios such as those of Jimmy Giuffre (with pianist Paul Bley and double bass player Steve Swallow) or the more modern one of Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, and Charlie Haden. The trio’s third album, Short Stories, was recorded after a nearly decade-long hiatus at DADA Studios in Brussels in April 2024.

Sluijs describes the aesthetics of this trio with a quote from Sting: «To play music is projecting love». The dynamics of radiate that kind of refined, emphatic synergy, and the trio tells and shares short, nuanced, and subtle stories through melodic, lyrical songs that dive into the essence of what these kindred souls are, with all their struggles and joys. The trio likes to compare its tasteful, gentle, and most peaceful music to a fine gastronomic experience, a hushed conversation with an old friend, or a kiss from a long-lost lover.

The music transcends genres and fosters profound dialogues expressed as concise stories. The trio has developed a beautiful, introspective, and intimate collective sound of its own, with enough space for the individual voices. The trio covered on its previous album Béla Bartók’s opening melody of his violin concerto (Rainy Days On The Common Land, el Negocito, 2015). The ten pieces in Short Stories are original compositions. «Ganesh» introduces an exotic, meditative-hypnotic atmosphere, while the playful «Mr. Motian to You» cements its connection to the seminal Bill Evans trio with drummer Paul Motian.

Eyal Hareuveni

Ben Sluijs (alto saxophone, alto flute, clarinet), Brice Soniano (double bass), Christian Mendoza (piano)