Live @ Kulak's Woodshed - Jun Iida Trio

Live @ Kulak's Woodshed is a live recording by the Jun Iida Trio, released in 2019. Trumpeter Jun Iida leads a guitar-bass-trumpet trio with guitarist Masami Kuroki and bassist Kevin McClellan, captured at Kulak's Woodshed, an intimate performance venue in North Hollywood, California known for its live-streamed shows. The program focuses on jazz standards including Sam Rivers's "Beatrice," "I'll Be Seeing You," "Like Someone in Love," and W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues." The guitar-trumpet-bass format — without drums or piano — gives the trio an open, conversational quality, with Kuroki's guitar handling both comping and solo duties while McClellan's bass provides harmonic and rhythmic foundation. Iida, a Japanese-born trumpeter based in Los Angeles, plays with a warm, lyrical tone that suits the intimate venue setting. The live recording preserves the trio's interaction and the room's acoustics, capturing the spontaneity of a working group performing for a small audience. The absence of drums creates space for each instrument to be clearly heard and for the musicians to respond to one another's dynamics in real time.