Without a chordal instrument, and with such a sparse, almost ascetic sound palette to play with, there is nowhere for musicians to hide, and so it has tended to be the preserve of the technically advanced, the melodically adventurous and the plain bonkers.

Similarly, for the audience, there is none of the balm of lush harmony, or the greater variety of solos you find in larger groups, but simply a direct and very intense engagement with melody and rhythm.

The genre-defining saxophone trio was that of Sonny Rollins, whose astonishing levels of invention and creativity were . . . indeed still are . . . perfectly suited to this setting. His live recording, A Night at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1957) with the great Elvin Jones on drums and Wilbur Ware on bass is a solid gold classic of the jazz canon, and an example of one of the music's great improvisers on top of his game. In fact, master drummer Jones is implicated in many of the great saxophone trio performances, whether it was with John Coltrane, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman or more recently, Joe Lovano. Konitz's Motion (Verve, 1961) is rightly regarded as one of the high watermarks of the saxophonist's career, and both Liebman and Lovano have revelled in the unique rhythmic landscape that Jones was capable of generating without the aid of a piano.

MSG, who begin a short tour of Ireland at the end of this month, tick the technically advanced and melodically adventurous boxes in thick black marker. Comprising New York-based alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, Irish bassist Ronan Guilfoyle and IndoDutch drummer Chander Sardjoe, the trio has been assembling occasionally for the last decade and their previous meetings have spawned legends. They may be named after a notorious flavour enhancer, but MSG the trio are pure natural 100% organic music.

Trios have always interested Guilfoyle, and some of his most important musical statements have been made in the trio setting.

The bassist and composer has enjoyed a very fruitful relationship with leading saxophonists like Liebman and Julian Arguelles and has shown impeccable taste in drummers, recruiting New York Downtown bashers like Jim Black and Tom Rainey for his trio projects. His Live in Dublin (Auand, 2006), featuring Black and Arguelles, was one of the most forceful musical statements of Guilfoyle's career to date and a strong candidate for best Irish jazz record of the last five years.

In Mahanthappa and Sardjoe, Guilfoyle has found two jazz musicians with the necessary grounding in Indian rhythmic culture to make things interesting for himself. Guilfoyle has been a longterm student of Indian music and the complexity which these three can generate together will attract a front row of young musicians with jaws on the floor. For the adventurous listener, the rewards for close attention are considerable, but the light and the wanton would do well to stay away.

MSG play the Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford (29 November), the Sonic Lab, Belfast (30 November), Triskel Arts Centre, Cork (1 December) and JJ Smyths, Dublin (2 December).

More info from www. improvisedmusic. ie.

Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca raised the roof of the Sugar Club last week and brought a packed house to its feet for his muscular brand of Cuban jazz. In a goodnatured and entertaining interview before the concert, he also helped to recruit a few volunteers for Una Corda, Galway piano tuner Ciaran Ryan's visionary project in support of Cuba's tuners and piano technicians.

Earlier this year, Ryan and fellow Irish tuners Alex Jeffares and Paul Wade, spent a month in Havana, tuning and fixing pianos, and finding out how they can help counter the pernicious effects of the American trade embargo which bans dangerous items like piano strings and felt hammers.

As a result Ryan has set up Una Corda, an educational and cultural exchange programme between Ireland and Cuba.

Money was raised last year through a series of excellent concerts, generously supported by audiences in Galway and Dublin, and now the plan is to turn that support into very focused, direct assistance to the tuners.

And this is where you come in.

Una Corda now want to hear from Irish people who may be travelling to Cuba on holidays. The idea is that you bring a few kilos worth of piano parts with you when you go and pass them onto representatives of the project in Havana.

Ryan is eager to point out that there is no buying or selling involved, and supporters will not be involved in anything illegal. But as a way to connect in a real and useful way with Cuban people on the ground, and to justify all that beastly fossil fuel burning, it's like carbon-neutral for the soul.