"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".
Stephan Crump: Acoustic Bass
Ingrid Laubrock: Tenor and Soprano Sax
Cory Smythe: Piano
Music by Stephan Crump, Ingrid Laubrock, Cory Smythe. Recorded live at unerhört!-Festival 2017, December 1, 2017. Recording engineer: Martin Pearson. Recording produced by Radio SRF 2 Kultur and Intakt Records. Mixed by Stephan Crump with Ingrid Laubrock, Cory Smythe at The Butler Plaza, Brooklyn, NY. Mastered by Liberty Ellman at 4D Studios, Brooklyn, NY. Cover art: Gottfried Honegger. Graphic design: Jonas Schoder. Photo: Rueben Radding Liner notes: Michel J. Agovino. Produced by Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt, Anja Illmaier, Florian Keller. Published by Intakt Records.
I really appreciate that with such a large group of musicians the overall sound and experience of listening is really spacious, never cluttered. The lovely recording helps that a lot, and of course the compositional aspects that make it breathe are superb- it gets more and more fun as I listen again and again. Jasper Skydecker
This music has everything I need: acoustic instruments, a slow build, layers of atypical harmonies and rhythms being added each pass through, subtle melodies and combinations. Excellent work! Little James
The meditative songs on "Earthly Delights" float seamlessly into each other on this rediscovered masterpiece by a free-jazz virtuoso. Bandcamp New & Notable May 17, 2019
Amazing and immersive. Constructed with such forward motion I forgot where I was and nearly got run over by traffic. Doesn’t get better than that. EmmaH