Adhyâropa recording artists Kenny Tam, Jay Sweet, and Dan Weeks formed the Atmospheric Trio in 2023 to perform and record new arrangements of jazz and Great American Songbook standards as well as original compositions. The group, which has become the premiere piano-based trio at the Jersey Shore, released its first album, Following Polaris, early in 2025 in digital and CD formats.
Kenny Tam, piano
Pianist, composer Kenny Tam is a recent graduate of Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts where he studied with Bill O'Connell and Orrin Evans, Ralph Bowen, Vic Juris, Robby Ameen, Abraham Burton, and Anthony Branker. He has performed with the Weeks & Peterson Quintet, Jim Josselyn Trio, and the Dan Weeks Trio, among others.
Jay Sweet, bass
Jay Sweet, one of the most sought-after bassists in Central Jersey, has performed and recorded with Ted Curson, Norman Simmons, Chris Pinella, and Ed Jurdi. After receiving his degree from Berklee College of Music in Performance and Composition, Sweet earned his master’s at Rutgers-Newark. He has taught at Monmouth University, Rutgers-Newark, and Middlesex County College and is the founder/proprietor of Sweet Music Academy, Howell Township. As a music journalist, Sweet has written for Downbeat, Oxford University Press, and the Annual Jazz Review. His latest book, Ray Brown: His Life and Music (Equinox Publishing) is due out later this year.
Dan Weeks, drums
Dan Weeks has been a presence on the Central Jersey jazz scene for thirty years, having co-led a number of acclaimed units during that time including Hammerheaded Quartet, which released two full-length CDs on Ratamacue Records, and Jazzlamic Jihad, whose first CD, Forbidden Expression, received a three-star rating in the Newark Star-Ledger and was featured on WBGO. Weeks, who studied privately with Blue Note recording artist Ralph Peterson Jr. and Muse recording artist Michael Carvin, has performed with Danny Walsh, Leo Johnson, Ted Chubb, Ralph Peterson Jr., Mike Bond, TW Sample, Danny Raycraft, Bob Ferrel, Charlie Apicella, Bob Himmelberger, and Jack Six. Other highlights include the Cape May and Montclair jazz festivals, and nine appearances at the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Festival. “With the ability to swing tastefully in the pocket and explode out of it, Weeks is hypnotizing to watch and to hear,” wrote James Quirk in The Islander. Newark Star-Ledger critic George Kanzler has written that “Weeks is a crisp, in-the-pocket drummer with good ears for group dynamics.”
