The Squid's Ear Magazine


Laubrock, Ingrid / Aki Takase: Kasumi (Intakt)

Having performed as duo in 2016 at Jazzfest Berlin, this album distills the chamber-like qualities of pianist Takase and saxophonist Laubrock bring, making playful interaction sophisticated through surprising twists and turns, each succinct conversation showing their empathetic connection, brilliant technical skills, and effortless ability to communicate.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Aki Takase-piano

Ingrid Laubrock-tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone


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UPC: 7640120193379

Label: Intakt
Catalog ID: ITK337
Squidco Product Code: 28343

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: Switzerland
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded at Hardstudios in Winterthur, Switzerland, on September 15th and 16th, 2018, by Michael Brandli.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Jazz as the art of dialogue: two of the great musicians of today's jazz from different continents and generations make music sparkle.

Born in Osaka in 1948, Aki Takase moved to Berlin where her musical partners included Han Bennink, Evan Parker, Rudi Mahall, David Murray, Louis Sclavis and Fred Frith as well as her husband and pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach.

Ingrid Laubrock, born in 1970 in Stadlohn in North Rhine-Westphalia, moved to London at the age of 19 where she studied with the saxophonists Jean Toussaint and Dave Liebman. She has lived in Brooklyn since 2008. In her publications she shows a wide musical spectrum ranging from the quintet AntiHouse to the orchestral recordings of "Contemporary Chaos Practices" from 2018.

"Ingrid is one of my favorite saxophonists," says Aki Takase. "She is a talented player with a lot of technique, very creative, smart and above all I love her dedicated approach to making music". And Ingrid Laubrock says about Aki Takase: "It feels great to play with Aki. She's so unique and the feeling of serious playfulness and communication I'm looking for musically is there immediately".

The album Kasumi presents wonderful dialogues, which radiate joy, wit and warmth or hold the breath in silent intensity, so as not to break the spell."-Intakt



"Looking into a mirror, one can see a reflection. Holding a mirror up to a mirror, one can see not only one reflection but a series of reflections. Kasumi, a chamber-jazz album from pianist Aki Takase and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, is a lot like that-the compositions form a series of reflections, in this case highlighted by top-drawer abstract music.

Modernism pervades the compositions -five by Takase, three by Laubrock, and four written jointly. Each piece has its own personality but, like layers laid one on top of another, they form a whole that is bolstered by the technical virtuosity of the duo.

Take Takase's clownish "Andalusia," where both musicians run the length of their instruments -Takase from top to bottom of the piano keys and Laubrock moving up and down the neck of the sax -maintaining a brilliant flow with bird-like slurs and a tonguing, stuttering accent. Or "Harlekin," where the initial slappy-dappy motif and its bumpily slow beat suggests a clown who has had one too many but, in the end, resolves with a free-playing finish, reminiscent of a Charlie Chaplin chase scene. Or "Dark Clouds," which begins with echoes of Duke Ellington but finishes with frog-hop leaps across the piano and a sax sound which runs from squawky to pure-sometimes in the same phrase.

Laubrock never takes the easy way out. Her choice of notes indicates a musical mind of the first order-able to anticipate and land with great accuracy, no matter the style, speed, or level of abstraction. Her Jimmy Lyons take on "Scurry" is, in a word, breathtaking. Takase too possesses a multi-skill attack on the piano. She can sprinkle the keys, create punchy notes, form rolling phrases, or fashion impressionistic statements with seeming ease.

Some of the numbers give off a neutral, almost gray vibe-for example, "One Trick Paper Tiger," where Laubrock constructs a cerebral sonic coolness, or her "Sunken Forest," which gives both musicians the wherewithal to offer drifting music bolstered by dark and gentle legato phrases, phrases which imply loneliness or isolation.

Like a stroll through a museum of modern art, where each artist presents a unique perspective that-together with the perspectives of other artists whose works are also displayed-form a comprehensive whole, Kasumi is as much a message of intimacy as it is of expression. Perhaps that's just another reflection within a reflection."-Don Phipps, All About Jazz


Get additional information at All About Jazz

Artist Biographies

"Aki Takase ( ) (born January 26, 1948) is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer.

Takase was born in Osaka and started to play piano at age 3. Raised in Tokyo, Takase studied classical piano at Toho Gakuen School of Music. Starting in 1978, she performed and recorded in the US. Her collaborators included with Lester Bowie, Sheila Jordan, David Liebman, and John Zorn. Her first Euopean appearance was in 1981 at the Berlin Jazz Festival in Germany. She instantly became one of the most sought after musicians, who was touring constantly the main international jazzfestivals.

For many years, she has been working with her husband Alexander von Schlippenbach, as well as with Eugene Chadbourne, Han Bennink, Evan Parker, Paul Lovens, Fred Frith and others, and in duets with Maria Jo‹o, David Murray and Rudi Mahall.

In various projects, Takase has dealt with famous jazz musicians: Duke Ellington (1990), Thelonious Monk (1994), Eric Dolphy (1998), W.C. Handy (2002), Fats Waller (2004), and Ornette Coleman (2006).

In 2002, Takase recorded with writer Yoko Tawada. Takase had read some of Tawada's poems, and, as the writer reported, she "started composing melodies and settings for my texts. When we got together, I read my poems in the same way that I always read them out loud. Aki played, listened carefully to the poems, and started improvising." In later performances, Takase used more unconventional instruments when accompanying Tawada.

Since 1987, Takase has lived in Berlin."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_Takase)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Originally from Germany, Ingrid Laubrock resides in Brooklyn, NY. Between 1989 and 2009 she was active as a saxophonist and composer in London/UK. She performed and/or recorded with: Anthony Braxton, Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler, Jason Moran, Tim Berne, William Parker, Tom Rainey, Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, Craig Taborn, Luc Ex, Django Bates' Human Chain, The Continuum Ensemble and many others.

Ingrid's current projects as a leader are Anti-House, Sleepthief, Ingrid Laubrock Orchestra, Ingrid Laubrock Sextet and Ubatuba. Collaborations include LARK,Haste,Paradoxical Frog and Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey Duo.She is a member of Anthony Braxton's Falling River Music Quartet, Nonet and 12+1tet, Tom Rainey Trio and Obbligato, Andrew Drury's Content Provider, Mary Halvorson Septet, Kris' Davis Quintet, Nate Wooley's Battle Pieces and Luc Ex' Assemblée. Ingrid was one of the featured soloists in Anthony Braxton's opera Trillium J.

Awards include the BBC Jazz Award for Innovation in 2004, a Fellowship in Jazz Composition by the Arts Foundation in 2006, the 2009 SWR German Radio Jazz Prize and the 2014 German Record Critics Quarterly Award. Commissions include Jammy Dodgers for jazz quintet and dancers (2006), Nonet music for Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2007, SWR New Jazz Meeting 2011 and "Vogelfrei", a piece for chamber orchestra (ACO/Tricentric Foundation). She won Rising Star/soprano saxophone in the 2015 in the 'Downbeat Annual Critics Poll and won the 'El Intruso Critics Poll for tenor saxophone in 2013. Ingrid was Improviser in Residence 2012 in the German city Moers. The post is created to introduce creative music into the city throughout the year. As part of this she led a regular improvisation ensemble and taught sound workshops in elementary schools. Other teaching experiences include improvisation workshops at Towson University, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Baruch College, University of Michigan, University of Newcastle and many others."

-Ingrid Laubrock Website (http://ingridlaubrock.com/about.html)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Kasumi 2:02

2. Andalusia 4:10

3. Brookish 2:24

4. Chimera 3:07

5. Harlekin 4:13

6. Dark Clouds 5:01

7. Scurry 1:28

8. Sunken Forrest 6:37

9. Density 2:45

10. Win Some, Lose Track 3:32

11. Poe 4:15

12. Carving Water 2:22

13. One Trick Paper 4:57

14. Luftspiegelung 3:12

Related Categories of Interest:


Intakt
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Duo Recordings
Piano & Keyboards
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
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