John Mayer Trio

The John Mayer Trio is an American blues-rock band that formed in 2005. Comprising singer-songwriter and guitarist John Mayer, bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan, the band has released one live album, Try! in 2005. Three of the songs on the album were co-written by Jordan, Mayer, and Palladino, and the album was co-produced by Mayer and Jordan.

In 2005, Mayer and Jordan had committed to a telethon on NBC, with bassist Willie Weeks entitled Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope to raise funds and public awareness benefiting victims in the aftermath of the tsunami that struck southeast Asia. However, as the date arrived, Weeks was unable to make the gig, and Jordan suggested high profile bassist Pino Palladino instead. When the three joined to play, they noted a chemistry between them, and formed the Trio to play what Mayer called, «power-rockin’, electric-guitar, in-your-face blues.» In October 2005 the band toured as the opening act for The Rolling Stones on some A Bigger Bang Tour dates.[3] As feedback from the tour began pouring in, the reviews were a polarizing mix; commenting on the Trio’s October 6, 2005 show, Alan Light, with Rolling Stone, said, «Make no mistake: One-time Berklee College of Music student Mayer is a badass guitar player. Backed by studio aces Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass…his blues playing was consistently impressive.» «But», he added, «he’s a bit too eager to impress.»

In February 2005, the trio played Mayer’s single «Daughters» at the 47th Grammy Awards, for which Mayer went on to win the award for Best Male Vocal Performance later that night (though the Trio performed, the act was announced only as «John Mayer»). The Trio released «Come When I Call» exclusively to iTunes. While Rolling Stone said the for-download-only single «screams vanity project», they conceded that «Mayer is a surprisingly convincing mini Stevie Ray Vaughan» and gave the song three out of four stars. Another reviewer noted that «mixed in with the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton-esque music, there are a few mellow numbers», notably from Mayer’s Heavier Things.

On April 1, 2006, Mayer announced that the trio had played their final performance for that tour at a concert at the Tempe Music Festival in Tempe, Arizona. The three musicians had agreed to release a record, but when the time came to produce it, they came up «about three songs short», Jordan remembers. They went to work to write songs together, and from their collaborations, Mayer, Palladino, and Jordan wrote three songs on the album: «Good Love Is On The Way,» «Vultures,» and «Try».

Mayer’s experience with the Trio influenced his production style on Continuum, and he and Jordan produced the album. He remarked «The artist gets almost trained to believe it takes 60 people and 12 months to make a record. It takes four people. You get it on tape, you listen back and ask, ‘Does it make you feel something, yes or no?’ When you got it, you move on.» On September 12, 2006, the day of Mayer’s solo release Continuum (which contains songs from the Trio album Try!), he announced on his blog that the group would reunite and produce a studio album.

The Trio teamed up for another performance on December 8, 2007, where Mayer performed an acoustic set, a set with the Trio and then a set with his band. The performance is featured on Mayer’s live DVD Where the Light Is, released on July 1, 2008.

The Trio reunited on June 4, 2009 to play the song «California Dreamin’» on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. They reunited twice more in 2009, on December 29th at Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego for Mayer’s third annual Charity Revue, and on December 31st for a special black-tie New Year’s Eve performance at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Also the Trio were brought together for an impromptu reunion during Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, Chicago, Ill., (June) 2010.

During the years since Try! was released, Palladino has been busy with session work, and his membership as the touring bassist for The Who, with Jordan also contributing his talent in recording sessions, and in his role as a record producer.