Line-up

Jeff Berlin | Bass
Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, Patrick Moraz, David Liebman, Patti Austin, Kazumi Watanabe, George Benson, Dennis Chambers, Scott Henderson

Jorge Vera | Piano
Billy Cobham, Jeff Berlin, Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, Damien Schmitt, Patáx, Dennis Chambers, Ara Malikian, Tony Succar, Christian Gálvez, Alain Pérez

José San Martín | Drums
Hugo Fattoruso, Zeca Assumpção, Mauro Senise, Jerry González, Federico Lechner, Luis Salinas, Antonio Serrano, Jorge Pardo, Jorge Drexler, Toninho Horta

Style

Contemporary fusion jazz with electric bass in the foreground, piano balancing dense harmony and lyricism, and drums speaking an Afro-Latin vocabulary.
Shifting meters, melodic bass lines, and grooves that change perspective without losing swing.
A stage-built trio: immediate dynamics, virtuosity in service of storytelling, and tight three-way interplay.

Profile

JEFF BERLIN TRIO is a fusion-jazz workshop where electricity is not simply a color, but a grammar.

Jeff Berlin’s bass carries melodies and walking lines as a front voice, combining the rhythmic clarity associated with his Bruford and Holdsworth years with a lasting commitment to music before display. Returning to the piano chair, Jorge Vera brings contemporary jazz harmony, Latin American rhythmic detail, acoustic lyricism, and an incisive electric attack. His voicings widen the trio’s harmonic field while leaving room for Berlin’s melodic counterpoint.

José San Martín completes the triangle with a timbral, narrative approach to drumming: candombe, swing, funk, and urban pulses meet in an elastic groove capable of supporting both unison precision and open improvisation. The project’s defining DNA is interplay—singing bass lines, mobile harmony, and a drum kit that orchestrates the space. Virtuosity remains central, but always as a means of building momentum, contrast, and a direct live story.

Details

Jeff Berlin | Bass
A central figure in jazz-rock since the late 1970s, Berlin helped move electric bass toward a genuine lead role through legato articulation, harmonic fluency, and uncompromising time.
Within the trio, his sound is both architecture and narrative: walking lines that swing, melodic counterpoint, and solos developed with compositional logic.
His work with Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Patrick Moraz, David Liebman, Kazumi Watanabe, Dennis Chambers, and Scott Henderson anchors the project in the highest level of fusion history.

“Part of the joy of music is evolving. You want to evolve. That’s a liberating element.”

Jeff Berlin, All About Jazz, 2022-11-21

Jorge Vera | Piano
Vera returns as the trio’s harmonic catalyst, moving between acoustic clarity, Rhodes color, contemporary jazz harmony, and Latin American rhythmic phrasing.
His role is not conventional accompaniment: he redirects themes through substitutions, register shifts, percussive chords, and rapid exchanges with bass and drums.
His verified collaborations include Billy Cobham, Jeff Berlin, Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, Dennis Chambers, Damien Schmitt, Patáx, Ara Malikian, Tony Succar, Christian Gálvez, and Alain Pérez.

“I will always fight for my dream, until I die.”

Jorge Vera, artist statement, 2017-05-17

José San Martín | Drums
San Martín gives the trio its orchestral rhythmic dimension, shaping form through cymbal color, tuned-drum resonance, dynamic contrast, and layered subdivision.
His language connects jazz and fusion with candombe, murga, funk, and Brazilian currents, giving complex passages a grounded physical pulse.
His recorded and live work includes Hugo Fattoruso, Zeca Assumpção, Mauro Senise, Jerry González, Federico Lechner, Luis Salinas, Antonio Serrano, Jorge Pardo, Jorge Drexler, and Toninho Horta.

“His electrifying speed is matched only by his flashing tone and colour palette.”

Raul Da Gama, Latin Jazz Network, 2017-03-22

Discography

Jeff Berlin | Leader and co-led projects
Champion (1985), Pump It! (1986), Taking Notes (1997), Crossroads (1998), In Harmony’s Way (2000), Lumpy Jazz (2004), Aneurythms / Ace of Bass (2006), High Standards (2010), HBC with Scott Henderson and Dennis Chambers (2012), Low Standards (2013), Joe Frazier: Round 3 — 30th Anniversary EP (2018), Jack Songs (2022).

Jorge Vera | Leader
Groovera (2010), Luz (2016).

José San Martín | Leader and named projects
En Esta Esquina (2000), Artesano (2005), Triovivo (2007), Tres Calles (2014), Tr3spuntocero (2015), Otros Palos (2015), Tocador (2016), Entrevías (2022).