Not your conventional modern
jazz
-based piano trio, these highly regarded improvisers pursue circular and open-ended dialogue during this vibrant set recorded in the studio and in concert. Pianist
Sylvie Courvoisier
works through many of these multi-faceted frameworks via
Cecil Taylor
-like excursions amid rumbling lower-register dynamics and sinuous chord clusters. Bassist
Joelle Leandre
and drummer
Susie Ibarra
are afforded equal parts soloing space, where they expound upon previously stated themes. On pieces such as
"Taktlos 3"
(recorded live), the trio embarks upon a crash-and-burn
free jazz
methodology, featuring
Ibarra
's tumultuous polyrhythms and
Courvoisier
's fragmented progressions, whereas
Leandre
provides the snaking bottom end with rapidly executed arco lines or complexly constructed fabrics of sound. Some of these works are introspective, where the artists' serve as colorists in combination with purposeful call-and-response-type dialogue. Nothing overtly new or groundbreaking, yet this 2002 release presents the listener with a hearty program brought to you by three superb improvisers. ~ Glenn Astarita