Pianist and composer David Janeway is set to release a new live trio album, Live at Blue Llama, on 8 May, issuing what appears to be one of the strongest recorded statements of his recent work.
The set was recorded at the Blue Llama Jazz Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in June 2024 and features Janeway with bassist Robert Hurst III and drummer Billy Hart. According to the SteepleChase release material, the album captures Janeway “at the height of his powers”, with the label stressing both the group’s interplay and the balance between standards, ballads and original compositions.
The significance of the recording lies not simply in its personnel, although that alone is notable. Hurst and Hart are not sidemen added for prestige; they are musicians with long-established standing in modern jazz, and their presence places the album in serious company from the outset. Janeway has previously recorded for SteepleChase, and the new release is being presented as a continuation of that relationship, but with greater immediacy: a live document rather than a controlled studio date. In jazz, that distinction matters. A trio recording made in front of an audience can expose weakness, but it can also reveal authority, cohesion and instinct with far greater clarity than a studio session.
The label’s description suggests that Live at Blue Llama is built on exactly those qualities. Janeway, shaped by Detroit’s jazz tradition and its combination of swing, blues feeling and structural discipline, brings a style that is rooted in the mainstream but not confined by it. The press material points to “inventive takes on standards, luminous ballads, and Janeway’s distinctive originals”, suggesting a programme that is broad enough to show range without drifting into display for its own sake. That is often the test of a piano trio record: whether the leader can assemble a coherent musical identity from familiar forms.
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Janeway’s earlier reviews indicate that this has long been one of his strengths. Previous critical notices have emphasised his lyricism, spacious phrasing and command of accessible bop language, while also drawing attention to the quality of his writing. Michael P. Gladstone, writing in All About Jazz, said that “it is no small feat to say that not only is Janeway’s playing sparkling but so is his ability to write tuneful compositions”. That observation is particularly relevant here, because a live trio date tends to place composition and improvisation under equal pressure. Strong tunes matter; so does the ability to reshape them in real time.
The timing of the release also places the album at the centre of an active run of performances. Janeway’s spring schedule includes appearances at Django Jazz Club, Mezzrow, Jazz Forum and Smalls in New York and its surrounding circuit, alongside his regular role in the Jazz Forum jam sessions and his involvement in the Hastings on Jazz outdoor series this summer. Those dates reinforce the impression of a pianist still working directly in the club tradition rather than relying on catalogue alone. The new album, then, arrives not as an isolated project but as part of a continuing live practice.
EU Today readers may also recall Janeway’s Brussels appearance last year. In Gary Cartwright’s June 2025 feature, written after his performance at Music Village, Janeway was described as appearing in Brussels as part of a two-week European tour, with sets that drew on Forward Motion and earlier material from a career “rooted in Detroit, shaped in New York, and now spanning more than four decades”. That earlier encounter offered a useful point of reference: Janeway came across not as a repertory figure revisiting old ground, but as a musician still actively extending his work in live settings. Live at Blue Llama appears to confirm that same sense of continuity and purpose.
David Janeway in Brussels: A Jazz Master Brings ‘Forward Motion’ and Decades of Experience to Europe
There is also a European dimension. Janeway’s official tour page now lists a full run of May 2026 dates in Belgium and France: Antwerp at De Muze on 14 May, Lokeren on 15 May, Ghent at Hot Club Gent on 17 May, Brussels at Music Village on 18 May, Antwerp at De Vagant on 21 May, Paris at the Wine Museum on 22 May, and Paris at Sunside on 23 May. The Brussels engagement is separately advertised as a performance by the David Janeway Trio featuring Piet Verbist on bass and Lionel Beuvens on drums.
That matters because Live at Blue Llama is likely to function as more than a release title; it appears to be the anchor for Janeway’s next stretch of concerts. Touring a live album is a familiar strategy, but in jazz it only works when the recorded group language can be translated into different settings and, often, different personnel. The published Belgium and France dates suggest that Janeway is prepared to do exactly that, carrying the repertoire into a European context while keeping the album itself as the musical reference point.
In practical terms, the new record should appeal most to listeners who still value the piano trio as a testing ground for jazz craft: no excess concept, no unnecessary production, and nowhere to hide. Janeway’s reputation has been built less on novelty than on consistency, musical intelligence and a clear sense of line. If the Blue Llama performance delivers what the accompanying material promises, this release may well stand as his most complete live document so far. That would also fit with the impression left by his recent European appearances, where the emphasis was on substance, coherence and the authority that comes from long experience rather than display.
Live at Blue Llama will be released on 8th May across major streaming platforms.
Janeway’s official site currently lists the following European tour dates:
30th April — La Polivalente, Málaga
2nd May — Clarence’s Jazz Club, Málaga
3rd May — Ool Ya Koo, Granada
9th May — Assejazz, Seville
14th May — De Muze, Antwerp
15th May — Lokerse Jazzklub, Lokeren
17th May — Hot Club Gent, Ghent
18th May — Music Village, Brussels
21st May — De Vagant, Antwerp
22nd May — The Wine Museum, Paris
23rd May — Sunside/Sunset Jazz Club, Paris
