Pianist Billy Childs to Release New Album “Triumvirate” on April 24th, 2026 | LISTEN!
6x GRAMMY® Winner Billy Childs Announces
New Album Triumvirate
Out April 24 via Mack Avenue Records
Single “One Fleeting Instant” Out Now
February 27, 2026 – Today, 6x GRAMMY-winning pianist and composer Billy Childs announces his new album Triumvirate, due out April 24 via Mack Avenue Music Group. His first trio recording in 25 years, Triumvirate harnesses the energy and creative prowess of his touring group — bassist Matt Penman and drummer Ari Hoenig — into a masterclass of material revisited from his earliest recordings, within an intimate setting of equal parts lineage and evolution. Along with the news, Childs shares “One Fleeting Instant,” a shimmering revamp of the piano-led odyssey that originally appeared on his 1988 debut LP Take for Example This…
“‘One Fleeting Instant’ was inspired by a combination of a couple of things,” says Childs. “Years ago, I heard a performance of the Neil Hefti song ‘Cute,’ and it featured my good friend Steve Houghton on drums playing brushes. I really dug how the arrangement gave him room to fill in between the hits. Also, I used to love how the great piano trios – Oscar Peterson, Monty Alexander, Bill Evans – had a chamber-ish, almost telepathic connection between themselves. I feel that way performing with Matt Penman and Ari Hoenig in this trio. ‘One Fleeting Instant’ allows us to connect in a very intimate, personal way and hopefully that connection gets communicated to the listener.”
In preparing the setlist for Triumvirate, Childs reached back into the repertoire from some of his earliest recordings on Windham Hill to find material that was ripe for revisiting. “Mack Avenue has allowed me to get back to a smaller group situation for the first time since those Windham Hill recordings,” Childs explains. “Part of the motivation for choosing these songs is that I regret that those albums are not more widely heard.”
For this momentous occasion, Childs enlisted a pair of elite bandmates in Penman and Hoenig. A longtime member of the all-star SFJAZZ Collective, Penman has worked with such acclaimed names as John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Wayne Shorter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Douglas, Fred Hersch and Madeleine Peyroux, and co-founded the collective quartet James Farm with Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks and Eric Harland. Hoenig, known for his unusual and intense approach to drumming, has played extensively with a variety of groups, including Chris Potter Underground, Kurt Rosenwinkel Group, Joshua Redman Elastic band, Jazz Mandolin Project, and bands led by Wayne Krantz, Mike Stern, Richard Bona and Pat Martino.
While Childs hadn’t officially recorded with either Penman or Hoenig in the past, they had formed the rhythm section for quartets featuring such frontline players as Steve Wilson, Chris Potter, or Sean Jones. During the course of those gigs, they would typically include a trio number in the set.
“It always felt great,” Childs says. “I’d seen Ari play in some amazing trios, from his own trio with Gadi Lehavi and Ben Tiberio to bands with Kenny Werner or Jean-Michel Pilc. I was blown away by his sensitivity to the piano and his orchestrational style of drumming. Matt is just a magical player to work with. They both make music in a way that elevates a trio, so I said to myself, ‘I need to record with these people.’”
Since the word was first coined in the days of ancient Rome, Triumvirate has indicated a group of three, all holding equal power and responsibility. Such is certainly the case for this incredibly adaptable trio, each member contributing an integral share and each able to steer the sound in any direction from moment to moment – all of which makes this album a long overdue and determinedly welcome return to the format for Childs.
Triumvirate is the anticipated follow-up to Childs’ 2023 LP The Winds of Change, which took home the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Instrumental Album upon its release. An acclaimed and in-demand classical music composer, he has maintained an eminent reputation as an adept and deeply swinging jazz musician over his nearly 50-year career. Along the way, he has garnered six GRAMMY Awards and an astounding 17 nominations, while receiving commissions from such esteemed ensembles as the Kronos Quartet, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the Orpheus Orchestra, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and the American Brass Quintet. His works have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Disney Concert Hall.
Triumvirate:
1. One Fleeting Instant
2. Carefree
3. Like Father Like Son
4. Heroes
5. Whisper Not
6. Ask Me Now
7. Lazy Afternoon
8. Flamenco Sketches
Tour Dates:
April 30 – San Francisco, CA – Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall *
May 5 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Concert Hall +
May 13-17 – New York, NY – Smoke Jazz Club =
May 19 – Washington, D.C. – Blues Alley
May 22 – Rockport, MA – Shalin Liu Center
May 29-30 – Los Angeles, CA – Catalina’s
June 27 – Stanford, CA – Stanford Jazz Workshop
June 28 – Santa Cruz, CA – Kuumbwa Jazz Center
* RJAM Big Band featuring Billy Childs on piano
+ Billy Childs – piano, Dan Chmielinski – bass, Christian Euman – drums, along with strings from the LA Phil
= Billy Childs – keys, Matt Penman – bass, Ari Hoenig – drums
Missing Piece Group