perhaps the album most responsible for opening the door to wider public acceptance for copland during the new millennium was his return to the trio format with his regular working band of the period, with drew gress on bass and jochen rueckert on drums. the album was an application of the pianist's lyrical bent to the interpretation of ballads, a song form that lends itself naturally to his style. the trio developed the rapport evident on the album through several years of steady gigs in new york, and usa and european tours. another and very different trio, with kenny wheeler and john abercrombie, was a meeting of three individualist instrumentalists and composers. this latter trio recorded twice, and also toured europe frequently.