3Below – Live in Mérida 2024

Guitar instrumental

November 8 3Below features three extended range instruments played by Michael Manring (Jaco Pastorius alumni, creator of the Hyperbass), Trey Gunn (Warr Guitarist with King Crimson), Alonso Arreola (Mexican bassist, writer and poet).

Their latest release, “Live in Mérida”, was recorded on November 5, 2023 at the Palacio del La Música de Mérida in the Yucatan in Mexico. During this performance, they were joined by special guest Emmanuel Pina on the oud.

3Below began in a small but significant way when Arreola and Gunn, along with Gunn’s daughter Harper, traveled across Mali and The Dogon in West Africa in 2012. They took their baritone ukuleles with them hoping to touch base with local musicians. Mali is known for its deep musical traditions and by the third day they had found their way in: go into each small village and ask for lessons from the local master drummer or ngoni player (African string instrument). This led to a string of lessons and playing sessions with a variety of musicians from Bamako, Séguo, Mopti, Djenne and throughout the Dogon where they ended up participating in a late-night festival and jam session with the king and queen of Begnemato.

These experiences and the musical languages they learned in Mali set the groundwork for 3Below. This exploded further with bringing in bass legend Michael Manring. Manring is most known for his jaw-dropping solo performances, but he is also a brilliant ensemble player.

3Below first began with live shows in Mexico about one year after their return from Mali. Combining roots from Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe, the first part of a 3Below live show is acoustic-based with Arreola and Gunn on ukulele and acoustic bass. The second half of the show is full-on electric, with the addition of solo pieces by Gunn and Manring.

Time Out Magazine calls them “Musicians with enormous talent and giant careers.”

“3Below was the triumph of the Alterna Jazz Season.” – The Chronicle on their Centro Cultural Roberto Cantoral, Mexico City performance.

Credits
Alonso Arreola: Percussive Electroacoustic & Electric Basses
Trey Gunn: Warr Guitar, Baritone Ukulele
Michael Manring: Fretless Basses, Caxixi Shaker
Emmanuel Pina: Oud

Live Sound: Nelson Sánchez
Mixed by Trey Gunn at 7d Studios

Track List:
1. Relamparia (Arreola)
2. Mamadou’s Mercedes (Arreola)
3. Versos (Arreola)
4. Hard Winds (Gunn)
5. Forest Floor (Gunn, Arreola)
6. Big Fungus (Manring)
7. Lake of Ice (Gunn)
8. Lake of Fire (Gunn)
9. The World Is Everything That Is The Case (Manring)
10. Monkey Businessman (Manring)
11. Culpa (Arreola)
12. Area (arr. Arreola, Pina)