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Crump, Stephan / Ingrid Laubrock / Cory Smythe: Channels (Intakt)

The NY trio of Stephan Crump on acoustic bass, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor & soprano saxophones, and Cory Smythe on piano follow-up to their "Planktonic Finales" album with this live album recorded at the Unerhort!-Festival in Zurich in 2017, in a lyrically free album of solid compositional structures that result in warmly creative and singular jazz.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Stephan Crump-acoustic bass

Ingrid Laubrock-tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone

CORY SMYTHE-piano


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UPC: 7640120193195

Label: Intakt
Catalog ID: ITK319
Squidco Product Code: 27251

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: Switzerland
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded live at unerhort!-Festival 2017, in Hamburg, Germany, on December 1st, 2017, by Martin Pearson.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"For me, free improvisation is nothing more than composing - spontaneous composing from the moment," says bassist Stephan Crump. In this trio, three ideal-typical partners come together who bring along thinking in compositional structures. Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock is active as a composer in her countless projects, always swinging playfully between composition and improvisation and moving light-footedly between harmonic and rhythmically bound jazz and free improvisation. The pianist Cory Smythe (decorated with a Grammy for the recording "In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores" 2015) originally comes from new serious music and, is a lust-walking border crosser between new music and jazz improvisation. With Stephan Crump, who, in addition to his engagement in the Vijay Iyer Trio, is also often on the road in chamber music formations, the three of them provided a festival highlight with their filigree art of improvisation: enjoy these sonic subtleties, most of which are drawn from tranquillity, and expansive arcs of tension in which, according to Crump, "every note becomes a planet".-Intakt



"Brooklyn-based German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock initiated the grouping, pulling together two rising talents on the New York City scene, bassist Stephan Crump and pianist Cory Smythe. A first meeting quickly ascertained compatibility and led swiftly to a recording date. Laubrock's tale, moving from London to become one of the key figures in her adopted hometown, is well known. Crump too is beginning to stretch out on his own having established himself as an integral part of pianist Vijay Iyer's Trio, while Smythe hails from a contemporary classical background, but has come to greater prominence as part of drummer Tyshawn Sorey's various projects.

In consort they generate eleven on-the-fly selections which demonstrate deep listening and keen interaction where nothing is off limits. Though they largely transcend expected roles, there's a chamber sensibility inherent in the instrumentation, and the overall feel is intimate and for the most part introspective, with at times as much silence as sound. Only four cuts break the five-minute barrier, allowing different combinations and moods to emerge.

"Tones For Climbing Plants" provides a good example. After a start involving Crump's resonant pizzicato, saxophone sustains and piano flourishes, the bassist enjoys a passage replete with richly booming notes, latterly accompanied by Laubrock's soprano splutters. That's followed by a series of dramatic exchanges, seemingly surging from nowhere, capped by an eruption of clipped piano runs, completely changing the dynamic of the piece.

Another instance of ostensibly telepathic communication comes on "Sinew Modulations" where a percussive prologue of wooden tapping and hoarse exhalations suddenly shifts to a more conventional give and take. It's the most expansive track, in which the exchanges turns more angular in response to Laubrock's perky staccato, almost conjuring up a jazzy tinge.

While there is an egalitarian ethos, that doesn't mean everyone partakes equally all the time. The title of "Three-Panel" may acknowledge the triptych nature of the interplay where the spotlight swings from Crump's expressive bent notes, which wouldn't seem out of place in something by his sometime employer Iyer, to Laubrock's careening soprano saxophone narrative, and finally to Smythe's exclamatory outbursts in one of the most high energy sections of the album.

As an improviser, one of the special things about Laubrock is how she melds both cool school and fire music tropes into one unique voice. Although on this set it's the former which predominates, she does let off steam on the brief "Bite Bright Sunlight" where the free jazz bravado of her skronk-fuelled tenor bursts into the drawing room.

It's left to the concluding "Inscribed In Trees" to doff the cap towards the tradition, sounding like a modern-day reboot of Jimmy Guiffre's Free Fall. Like the rest of the disc, it's a supreme case of empathetic music making in which respect doesn't cow either adventure or surprise."-John Sharpe, All About Jazz


Get additional information at All About Jazz

Artist Biographies

"Memphis-bred, Grammy-nominated bassist/composer Stephan Crump has lived in Brooklyn since 1994. An active bandleader and composer, he has released ten critically-acclaimed albums in addition to numerous film scoring contributions. As bassist, known for transforming his instrument into a speaking entity of magnetic pull, his focus on creative instrumental music has led to collaborations with many of the leading lights of his generation.

Shunning barriers of genre, Crump has performed and recorded with a diverse range of musicians, from Portishead's Dave McDonald, The Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano, to Patti Austin, Jim Campilongo, Jorma Kaukonen, Lucy Kaplansky, Big Ass Truck, Sonny Fortune, and late blues legend Johnny Clyde Copeland. Currently, he can be heard as a long-standing member of Vijay Iyer Trio and Sextet, Jen Chapin Band, Ches Smith Trio, Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet, Liberty Ellman Sextet, Secret Keeper (with Mary Halvorson), his own Rosetta Trio, as well as groups with Kris Davis, Ingrid Laubrock, Cory Smythe, Eric McPherson, Mat Maneri, and Okkyung Lee.

Stephan comes from a family of architects, sculptors, painters, storytellers, musicians, civic leaders, and craftsmen. He was raised in music and the arts by his Parisian mother, an amateur pianist, and his Memphian father, an architect, painter, and jazz drummer. After six years of classical piano study and two years with the alto saxophone, he got his first bass guitar at age thirteen and spent his high school years playing in rock and funk bands around Memphis. During the summers, he worked in the studio of his uncle, Stephen, a wood sculptor.

Crump received his Bachelor of Music degree from Amherst College, where he studied under Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lewis Spratlin and was awarded the Sundquist Prize for performance and composition. It was at Amherst that he began his acoustic bass journey, with a focus on classical training that culminated in a year of study in Paris with Gary Karr-protégé Patrick Hardouineau. His jazz studies at Amherst included work with Max Roach, Frank Foster, and Ray Drummond.

Crump launched his solo performance career as an invited artist at the 2009 International Society of Bassists conference and has since released several recordings documenting his duo collaborations with alto saxophonist Steve Lehman, pianist James Carney, and guitarist Mary Halvorson. His all-string Rosetta Trio, with Jamie Fox and Liberty Ellman, is working toward their fourth album, while and his Rhombal quartet, with Tyshawn Sorey, Ellery Eskelin, and Adam O'Farrill, recently released its eponymous debut.

Stephan is an enthusiastic endorser of Velvet strings, Aguilar bass amplifiers, AMT acoustic bass microphones, and David Gage Czech Ease travel bass."

-Stephan Crump Website (http://stephancrump.com/about/)
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.

"Pianist Cory Smythe works actively in new, classical, and improvised music. He has performed widely, making appearances as soloist and chamber musician at the Darmstadt International Festival for New Music, the Bang on a Can Marathon in New York City, the Green Mill jazz club in Chicago, and the Mostly Mozart festival at Lincoln Center. In recent seasons, Smythe has played alongside violinist Hilary Hahn in concerts throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. A Washington Post review of the duo's performance at the Kennedy Center praised Smythe for "...the ferocity and finesse of his technique." Their Grammy-winning album, In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores, documents Hahn's diverse collection of newly commissioned encores for violin and piano.

As a core member of the new music group the International Contemporary Ensemble, Smythe has given numerous premieres, collaborated in the development of new pieces, and worked closely with composers John Zorn, Philippe Hurel, Dai Fujikura, George Lewis, and Alvin Lucier among many others. ICE's 2013 release on Mode Records features Smythe as the piano soloist in Iannis Xenakis's 'Palimpsest'. Smythe has also been a featured guest and soloist with many new music ensembles throughout the United States, including Milwaukee's Present Music, the Boston-based Firebird Ensemble, Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. He performs regularly in collaboration with many of the leading concert artists of his generation, appearing this last season with the cellist Joshua Roman, violinist Karen Gomyo, the Imani Winds, and members of the Providence and Rubens string quartets.

An innovative improviser, Smythe performs as a soloist and in collaboration with a wide array of jazz and creative artists, among them, most recently, Peter Evans, Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, and Anthony Braxton. This season will see the release of recordings featuring Smythe in projects led by Tyshawn Sorey and Nate Wooley. Smythe's own album, Pluripotent - described by celebrated jazz pianist Jason Moran as "hands down one of the best solo recordings I've ever heard" - is available for free download at corysmythe.bandcamp.com.

Smythe holds degrees in classical piano performance from the music schools at Indiana University and the University of Southern California, where he studied with Luba Edlina-Dubinsky and Dr. Stewart Gordon, respectively. He currently resides in New York City."

-CORY SMYTHE Website (http://corysmythe.com/bio)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Fluvium 14:59

2. Benthos 16:30

3. Medium 10:44

4. Presence 10:59

Related Categories of Interest:


Intakt
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Trio Recordings
Melodic and Lyrical Jazz
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