Trombonist/composer John Yao reconvenes his audacious three-horn quintet Triceratops in celebration of its bold, inventive second album. Musically scratching that prehistoric itch, trombonist/composer John Yao has once again unleashed his three-horn terror Triceratops on unsuspecting listeners with the band’s even more audacious second outing, Off-Kilter. The album title is an apt one, vividly capturing the exhilarating sense of risk-taking and disconcerting invention that make up this boldly unpredictable album.

"Yao’s compositions hold the kind of steady, swinging cadence of classic Blue Note bop, but with a definite post-bop edge in their spikey harmonies.” – Jackson Sinnenberg, DownBeat

"[Yao’s] music swings, lopes and races forward. All five of the bandmembers share command of their instruments and a likeminded sense of joy that makes the album feel like an amusement park ride: energetic, exciting, yet safe." – Franz A. Matzner, All About Jazz

While How We Do featured some of Yao’s most envelope-pushing music to date, he deliberately stretched the limits even further on Off-Kilter. The compositions are at once daringly complex yet expansive and open, challenging these gifted players while offering limitless space in which to venture and discover.

John Yao, Trombone
Bill Drewes, Alto and Soprano Saxes
Mitch Marcus, Tenor Sax
Robert Sabin, Bass
Jason Tiemann, Drums