Dominick Farinacci, Christian Tamburr & Michael Ward-Bergeman / Triad - Triad

The members of TRIAD — who play stirring, challenging music but have the naturally sidesplitting rapport you’d find in a good buddy comedy — like to recount the rocky start of one auspicious run at the iconic Birdland Jazz Club in New York City.

As the band began to load in — Dominick Farinacci carrying his trumpet; Christian Tamburr hoisting his vibraphone and marimba; Michael Ward-Bergeman with his accordion — club owner Gianni Valenti became incredulous, even irate: “What the hell is this instrumentation? Where is the bass player?”

TRIAD began their soundcheck with Valenti glaring at them from the back of his venue, but “shortly into the first set,” Farinacci recalls, “he totally started to dig it, and he became very supportive of the concept.” In the end, the run was a rousing success with six sold-out shows, a trial by fire that proved to the band and their audiences that they’d hit upon a rare and inspired alliance.

That singular meld of personalities is what defines TRIAD and their new self-titled debut. When the group first came together during a London residency, Farinacci explains, “I didn’t have a specific sound in mind. The only thing I had in mind was these two brilliant artists. I knew the chemistry would be really great between the three of us. And I love the out-of-the-box dynamic.”

TRIAD’s dynamic is certainly explorative — try and name another “jazz” debut that covers tunes by Astor Piazzolla, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Kurt Weill and John Mayer — but also resolutely focused. To start, these are three of the most widely accomplished musicians currently at work, whose individual résumés perfectly explain the collective TRIAD aesthetic — a space where a roots standard like “St. James Infirmary Blues” can be tackled with the telepathy of a modern jazz combo and the resourcefulness of a progressive chamber ensemble.