Three's Company is a small, Oxford-based New Orleans/ Chicago-style jazz band playing music from the 1920s and 30s: think Louis Armstrong, with Fats Waller, Duke Ellington and Great American Songbook repertoire (Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald) thrown into the mix.
The eponymous trio consists of Bernard Trafford on trumpet,
Will Arthur on semi-acoustic guitar and
Nigel Barr on bass tuba.
Of course, the band is flexible in size, recognising that venues and events vary hugely in scope and scale: so it might (reluctantly) shrink to a duo or grow to four or more, adding further great players at need:
as a quartet...
This is classic New Orleans/ Chicago jazz/swing: raw and authentic without slavishly following any particular formula. The band comprises excellent musicians who play because they love it. It doesn't do demos or recordings, but you can get a hint of what it sounds like from some video-clips snatched at live gigs: click on the titles.
...and as a quintet
The snippet of Louisiana was recorded as a duo at Oxford's Bear Inn in February 2023, while Dr Jazz, in classic trio format, comes from a performance at Summertown Wine Bar in July 2023. Sweet Georgia Brown sees Three's Company playing as a quartet out of doors - at centenary celebrations of The Crown Inn in Little Missenden, May 2023, where Nigel swaps his bass tuba for trombone to spectacular effect. Next, Swing That Music features the band as a full quintet, playing at a dance club party in January 2024.
So how do the members of Three's Company finish a gig, apart from going to the pub? Generally they slow things down a bit, without losing the swing, with an old favourite: familiar, but maybe just slightly different:
Please use the Contact page to reach Bernard Trafford about booking the band.