INTAKT RECORDS – REVIEWS

BORDERLANDS TRIO
STEPHAN CRUMP – KRIS DAVIS – ERIC MCPHERSON
REWILDER

Intakt CD 416 / 2024

BORDERLANDS TRIO. STEPHAN CRUMP – KRIS DAVIS – ERIC MCPHERSON: REWILDER. Intakt CD 416

 

 


Die beiden New Yorker Stephan Crump – Acoustic Bass und Eric McPherson – Drums bilden zusammen mit der Pianistin und Pyroclastic-Macherin Kris Davis in Boston das BORDERLANDS TRIO, und mit Rewilder(Intakt 416, 2xCD) machen sie aus „Asteroidea“ (2017) und „Wandersphere“ (2021) aller guten Dinge drei. Wie? Im kollektiven Versuch der Ich-Auflösung und Verschmelzung (Crump), in spontaner Konversation (McPherson), im entdeckungs- und überraschungsaffinen Vorwärts ohne Rückversicherung (Davis), in einem dynamischen Dreieck ohne Hierarchie (U. Stock, der Linernote-Autor).

Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy Newsletter, May 2024 (DE)


Torna dopo tre anni il Borderlands Trio 'orna dopo tre anni il Borderlands Trio (Stephan Crump, Kris Davis, Eric McPher-son a contrabbasso, pianoforte e batteria) con Rewilder, doppio Cd Intakt: i tre rifiutano ogni rapporto gerarchico fra gli strumenti, creando lunghi flussi musicali collettivi. Non ascoltiamo dunque un «pianoforte accompagnato», come capita anche ai trii più contemporanei, ma una conversazione paritaria dove gli strumenti assumono i ruoli più impensati.

Claudio Sessa, Corriere della Sera, Italy, May 9 2024 (IT)


A few years ago I was asked to write a liner note essay for Wandersphere (Intakt), the second album by Borderlands Trio. I enjoyed Asteroidea, the first album that pianist Kris Davis, drummer Eric McPherson, and bassist Stephan Crump improvised together, but right away I knew that Wandersphere was different; more sustained, instinctual, trusting, exploratory, unafraid. When I interviewed the musicians about the project Crump explained his interest in mycorrhizae, “the fungi that possess a symbiotic relationship with plant life that’s helped ensure the survival of forests for centuries,” as I wrote in the essay. The metaphor makes perfect sense for the way Borderlands Trio operate, creating something collectively that relies upon a simultaneous sort of nurturing: a wide open sonic ecosystem. The four astonishing pieces on that double CD each run between twenty and forty minutes, but I never felt the passage of time when I listened. To me this was freely improvised music of the highest caliber, with three of the greatest players in contemporary post-bop eschewing any given language, brushing away any rules. Instead they listened and built something together.

Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street, June 10 2024 (EN)


„Rewilder“ (was immer der Titel bedeuten mag; Leo und Deep Learning kennen ihn nicht) ist ein Sonderfall in der umfangreichen künstlerischen Vita von Kris Davis. „Es ist das erste Mal, dass ich mit einer Band ein drittes Album aufgenommen habe. Mit anderen Projekten mache ich eine Platte oder noch eine zweite, und dann ziehe ich weiter.“ Gut, dass sie diesen Pfad diesmal doch verlassen hat: „Rewilder“ ist nach „Asteroidea“ (2016) und dem nicht ganz so befriedigenden „Wandersphere“ (2020) das wohl beste Album des Borderland Trios.

Michael Rüsenberg, Jazz City, May 09 2024 (DE)


Two is the thread running through this episode of Mondo Jazz, two albums of rare depth by Stephan Crump, two members of the Koppel family, two remarkable musicians at the center of the new LA scene, Josh Johnson and Julien Knowles, and two trumpet players to keep an eye, and ear, on, Knowles and Tomasz Dabrowski. A set that is pairful and suspenseful!

Ludovico Granvassu, All About Jazz, July 5 2024 (EN)


Nach 'Asteroida' (2017), 'Wandersphere' (I und Il, 2021) beglückt uns dieses so wunderliche wie wundersame Trio erneut mit einem faszinieren-den Doppelalbum. Seine auf der Jazztradition basierende Musik fesselt vom ersten bis zum letzten Ton. Ob sich Kris Davis, Stephan Crump und Eric McPherson einem dichten, quirlig swin-genden Drive hingeben, eine Fülle an Einfällen, Aktionen und Reaktionen entwickeln oder sich in wenigen Sequenzen der Kontemplation, Zart-heit, Nuancen und Stille hingeben, stets bleiben sie sich in einer intensiven, magisch anmutenden Chemie, ihrem 'feu sacré', einer gemeinsamen Metaebene verbunden.

Steff Rohrbach, Jazz N'More Magazine, Switzerland, July 2024 (DE)


Che meraviglia la musica del Borderland Trio, tre nomi di grande caratura come Eric McPherson alla batteria, Stephan Crump al contrabbasso, Kris Davis al piano: il titolo del progetto è rispettato in pieno, perché sono tutte «terre di confine» quelle sfiorate in campiture imperiose o sognanti (a volte tutte e due le dimensioni assieme). Metalli tintinnanti, grumi di note a galleggiare in un vuoto limbico dal piano riprese e rilanciate dal basso, echi di gamelan, un inquieto «recercare», pura bellezza.

Guido Festinese, Alias / Il Manifesto, July 2024 (IT)


Lange galt in der frei improVisierten Musik ein ungeschriebenes Diktat zur Wucht und Rasanz. In die Reihe je-ner, die in der Entschleuni-gung den Zauber der Tiefenwirkung erkennen, stellt sich auch das New Yorker Border-lands Trio. Leader Stephan Crump am Bass, Pianistin Kris Davis und Drummer Eric McPherson schnappen sich luftige Melodien oder Rhythmen aus dem Zeitenlauf und verdichten sie in behutsamem Teamwork. Die Wirkung: in-tensiv.

Frank von Niederhäusern, Kulturtipp Magazine, Switzerland, 2024 (DE)


Saxophonist Tony Malaby has been a hard-hitting presence on the NYC scene for more than a quarter of a century. Although an MVP whose unique sound elevates any bandstand he graces, as shown with the likes of Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band and the Fred Hersch Quintet, he's also an established leader. But while a fearsome improviser whose own albums often swerve to left field, he remains a wholly committed interpreter of other people's concepts, as he shows on the three dates here.

Kurt Gottschalk, The New York City Jazz Record, USA, June 2024 (EN)


 

 

back to top

HOME

Newsletter in English | Newsletter in German

Intakt Records Facebook icon

Digital Download Store

© 2024 Intakt Records | P.O. Box, 8024 Zürich, Switzerland | intakt@intaktrec.ch | +41 (0) 44 383 82 33