'Trios' is one of the outstanding jazz albums of the season and marks the first time that a Carla Bley album has appeared on ECM itself (rather than the ECM-distributed WATT label, which has been her primary platform for 40 years). Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow revisit classic Bley compositions in an exceptional album recorded in Lugano in 2012 by Manfred Eicher.

Included on 'Trios' are spirited new versions of "Utviklingssang" and "Vashkar", as well as the suites "Les Trois Lagons", "Wildlife" and "The Girl Who Cried Champagne". Carla's robust tunes are vividly conveyed, all members solo compellingly, and the trio has never sounded better.

"Utviklingssang" ("Development Song"), penned initially for a large band, made its first appearance on 'Social Studies' (1981), and was reprised for her 'Duets' album with Steve Swallow (1988) and for 2000's 4x4. "Vashkar", one of Carla's most popular songs, is an early 1960s piece that has been recorded by Paul Bley, Tony Williams, Gary Burton, Bobby Naughton and Cindy Blackman amongst others. Commissioned by the Grenoble Jazz Festival in 1996, "Les Trois Lagons", based on cutouts by Henri Matisse, was recorded on 4x4. "Wildlife" was previously heard on 1985's Night-Glo, while "The Girl Who Cried Champagne" has been recorded twice by Carla, first on Sextet, and then in an extended version on the live big band session from the Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen, Fleur Carnivore.