On croyait avoir atteint le Walhalla avec Nate Wooley, mais c'est le Borderlands Trio qui fournit à votre scribe son concert favori. Les visées sont différentes. Les relie une détermination jusqu'au-boutiste dans leurs démarches respectives. La présence de Wooley sur le label Pyroclastic est une autre trace de correspondances souterraines. Si l'instrumentation est classique, l'approche ne l'est point. Même si le piano est << préparé >>> en direct, on se trouve dans l'idiome jazz. Un jazz qui ne se réfugie derrière aucun gimmick, citation ou standard. Kris Davis (p) et ses acolytes révolutionnent paisiblement l'art du trio, innovant avec des moyens traditionnels plutôt qu'avec des gadgets branchés sur le secteur. Économe de notes, Davis joue en accords, emprunte des labyrinthes de traverse sur les rythmes que le phénoménal Eric McPherson (dm) n'a pas besoin de marquer, préférant les suggérer. Se dessine une temporalité élastique, pas si éloignée du quartette أحمد [ahmed]. Davis bloque les cordes, les caresse, arpente le clavier d'un air interrogatif. Chacun semble s'être donné pour mission d'en faire le moins possible. Écologie musicale, décroissance acoustique ? Les titres de Wandersphere tendent à le confirmer: << Super-Organism >>, << An Invitation to Disappear >>, << Possible Futures >>. Davis examine des motifs successifs et non prémédités sous différents angles. Alors qu'on tend déjà l'oreille, le trio baisse encore d'un ton. Tout ego absent de l'équation, Stephan Crump (b) prend l'archet, McPherson quitte la scène. Plus cela tient de la méditation, plus le public retient son souffle. Musique des potentialités, réalisées et imaginaires, qui aurait pu partir dans des directions différentes. D'ailleurs, un élan vigoureux survient sans crier gare, le jeu se fait rapide et éclaté, cascade de notes sur swing frondeur. Pour autant, la philosophie du trio se révèle opposée à celle des groupes de Chicago. Davis garde le silence, n'a pas de message à faire passer autre que celui contenu dans sa musique et qu'il appartient aux auditeurs de capter. Le rappel compacte les caractéristiques qui précèdent: début réductionniste, anticonformisme (le bassiste joue exclusivement sur le cordier, près du sol) et cap sur la plénitude collective.

Voor een pianist die jazz en aanverwante muziek speelt is het trio met bas en drums de ideale bezetting. Geen concurrentie van andere solisten, diezelfde bassist en drummer zo nu en dan uitgezonderd. Vandaar dat Stephan Crumb’s Borderlands Trio de beste samenstelling is die pianiste Kris Davis zich kan wensen. Samen met drummer Eric McPherson vormen ze zonder meer één van de beste pianotrio’s van dit moment. De onlangs bij Intakt Records verschenen dubbel Cd ‘Wandersphere’ laat dan ook niets te wensen over.

Twee Cd’s, vier stukken. Dit trio neemt de tijd. Dat blijkt al direct in het ruim een half uur durende ‘Super-Organism’ waarin de eerste minuten opgaan aan spaarzame pianoaanslagen en gerommel in de marge. En dan zeer geleidelijk ontwikkelt zich een ritme en pakt Davis de solo rol, in die voor haar zo typische stijl, balancerend tussen melodie en abstractie, met een perfect gevoel voor timing. Iets dat bijvoorbeeld mooi tot uiting komt in die heftig stromende passage iets voor de helft. En verderop laat het trio horen de grenzen van deze bezetting maximaal op te kunnen rekken. Ik **** een geluidswereld die past bij een wandeling door het bos, de grenzen zoekend die bij de naam van dit trio passen. Mooi ook hoe langzaam het ritme weer zijn intrede doet, op een repetitieve wijze. Naadloos loopt het over in ‘An Invitation to Disappear’, met zijn nog net geen twintig minuten het kortste stuk. Crumb begint solo, balancerend tussen geluid en stilte, McPherson voegt zich erbij, al even subtiel en aansluitend Davis. Er gebeurt weinig in die fase, iets dat prima past bij de titel en tegelijkertijd heel veel. De kracht van de nuance. Verderop logenstraft het trio dit gegeven, hier klinkt het juist uiterst ritmisch, met als hoogtepunt die klaterende stroom noten van Davis tegen het einde en raakt het verdwijnen aardig buiten beeld.

De tweede schijf begint met het ruim veertig minuten durende ‘Old-Growth’. In eerste aanleg een vrij abstracte ballade, tot na ruim tien minuten Crumb en McPherson het roer omgooien en het ritme naar binnen stroomt, culminerend in een prachtige frase rond de vijftiende minuut, waarin we een stevig hamerende Davis het trio horen aanvoeren. Maar het hoogtepunt van dit nummer en eigenlijk van het gehele album zit verderop, bij die bijzonder intieme solo van Crump, gebruikmakend van zijn strijkstok, gevolgd door een prachtig, al even verstild duet met Davis. Tot slot klinkt het bijna vijfentwintig minuten durende ‘Possible Futures’. Nieuwe gezichtspunten levert het niet op, het is meer van hetzelfde. Maar op dit hoge niveau betekent dat alleen maar nog meer uitstekende muziek, en dat is uiteindelijk het enige waar het om draait!

‘Super-Organism’ is te beluisteren via Bandcamp. Het album is daar ook te koop.

https://www.nieuwenoten.nl/borderlands-trio-wandersphere-cd-recensie/

There is irony in the title of the Borderlands Trio, for they embody the mainland of North America. Drummer Eric McPherson is a New Yorker, bassist Stephen Crump hails from Memphis and pianist Kris Davis is from Vancouver, growing up in Calgary.

Their new double album, Wandersphere, is a wondrous journey of sonic artistry with the musicians, in Davis's words, giving themselves "freedom to just really be in the moment." She should know: she plays with a beautiful abandon while keeping as close as a musical sister to her two confreres.

Listen to their timbral unity on the opener, Super-Organism, as they push the frontiers of their collective passage. McPherson's drumming anticipates and picks up every step of their way, while Crump's dancing bass guides and earths their every move.

115 minutes here of the concord of unified sound, by a trio of dedicated and stellar musical insurgents.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/c/album-reviews-with-chris-searle-february-21-202

Whether due to pent up creative energy or release schedules making up for lost time, more terrific music has come my way than for several years, in spite of the last twelve months. From the 200 or so discs that I heard in 2021, here are ten new issues (in the order I came across them), plus two unearthed gems, which gave me the most pleasure. It's particularly invidious to pick and choose between honest artistic endeavours, this year more than many others. Perhaps it's better to view these selections as a chance to pick up on something that you might otherwise have missed. As a fan I always look forward to the annual year end lists for precisely that reason. If you share my taste (that's the key bit), then something here might just be for you!

The threesome luxuriates in the wide open vistas of four expansive improvisations of between 19 and 42 minutes on this double disc set. The decision to play and present entire pieces rather than excerpts, as they did on some of the shorter numbers on their debut Asteroidea (Intakt, 2017), pays rich dividends, as it allows opportunity to appreciate the daredevil creation on-the-fly as they invent structure, spawn tension, and uncover resolutions in unforced natural developments.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/john-sharpes-best-releases-of-2021

Ideenreich

In Klassik und Jazz ausgebildet, zählt die kanadische Pianistin Kris Davis zu den hellen Sternen der Jazz-Avantgarde. Ihre Musikalität ist auf dem aktuellen Doppelalbum mit ihrem Borderlands Trio wunderbar abgebildet. Ideenreich, eindringlich und stets organisch halten Kris Davis, Bassist Stephan Crump und Drummer Eric McPherson über vier lange Stücke hinweg ihre Kollektivmusik relevant und anregend.

Wandersphere is the follow-up to Asteroida, the 2017 Intakt debut from the New York-based Borderlands Trio. Recorded at Samurai Hotel during the pandemic in December 2020, bassist Stephan Crump, pianist Kris Davis, and drummer Eric McPherson decided to release the session as performed, unedited. On the group’s debut, shorter pieces were edited from longer improvisations, but this time the trio agreed to share the music uncut. Issued as a double CD comprised of four long improvisations that range in length from just under twenty minutes to over forty, this intimate music contrasts the then prevailing mood of pandemic isolation with untapped passion.

Despite the length of the tracks, the trio sounds focused; the members found their voice in the last three years playing together. Working without pre-arranged materials, they create a three-way dialog free of stylistic constraints. Each extended exploration progresses with an inevitable logic that reveals itself slowly, transitioning between extremes that range from impressionistic lyricism to expressionistic swing. Thinking compositionally, rather than simply following one another, they avoid familiar tropes to build a unified sonic architecture.

“Super-Organism” opens the date quietly, with the rustling of McPherson’s brushes, Crump’s creaking arco, and Davis’ atmospheric pianism. The tune’s free-flowing musical ideas slowly gather momentum over a half hour, recalling the life cycle of the mycorrhizae fungi that Crump was researching prior to the recording. The piece gradually segues into ostinato-driven passages where mutable grooves support cascading piano filigrees. Davis occasionally employs a prepared piano; assuming bass duties during the concluding vamp, the kaleidoscopic sounds of her augmented instrument add a cinematic flair to the proceedings.

“An Invitation To Disappear” follows, containing slow moving passages that provide subtle rewards for listeners with long attention spans. And like the prior excursion, it intensifies over the course of its twenty-minute duration, morphing into a series of hyperkinetic grooves. “Old Growth,” the forty-plus minute work that opens the second half of the set, vacillates between moods, from lyrical to swinging to introspective and back again. “Possible Futures” closes the date with a headlong rush of prismatic tonalities and oblique vamps, as Davis transforms the inside of her prepared piano into a gamelan orchestra.

Crump states, “Everyone’s thinking very compositionally, thinking sonically, and thinking about orchestrating the music.” McPherson, best known for his association with pianist Fred Hersch, proves the most revelatory, exploring his kit in a way that wouldn’t fit in more traditional contexts. “That’s what’s very exciting to me about it because it allows you to access your entire musicality,” he says. Davis also revels in the opportunity “to give yourself the freedom to just really be in the moment ... Who knows what tomorrow will bring; we are here for each other now and we will heal and find a way forward through the music we make together.” On Wandersphere that journey is long, but worthwhile.

https://pointofdeparture.org/PoD77/PoD77MoreMoments2.html

Nouveauté Kris Davis est l'une des grandes figures contemporaines du piano et de l'improvisation. Eric McPherson et Stephan Crump, vous les avez déjà aimés respectivement au côté de Fred Hersch et Vijay lyer. Tous trois avaient extrait des fragments de leurs improvisations libres sur l'album "Asteroidea" (Intakt, 2016). De celles enregistrées fin 2020, ils conservent l'intégralité, soit quatre suites allant de 19 à 41 minutes. Un art de la liberté sous contrôle, des vocabulaires et des syntaxes aussi imprévisibles qu'inépuisables, un sens du récit qui s'étire sans épuiser l'attention de l'auditeur. Sur le clavier, l'indépendance des deux mains s'accompagne d'un sens de l'espace et d'une qualité d'articulation sur tous les tempos au service d'une pensée musicale jamais à court au long de ces patients développements sans préalables, de la plus grande lisibilité narrative à l'abstraction parfois assortie de "préparations" des cordes. Sur la contrebasse, la profonde assise du pizzicato s'affranchit néanmoins de la fonction walking, cédant à un admirable archet ou à toute sorte de pratiques non idiomatiques. Une même diversité d'usages sur la batterie s'accompagne d'une maîtrise du temps que McPherson partage avec ses deux comparses, antenne vibrante de cette télépathie qui les unit.

Die Möglichkeiten der Improvisation sind grenzenlos. Das müssen sich auch Pianistin Kris Davis, Bassist Stephan Crump und Schlagzeuger Eric McPherson gedacht haben, als das Trio, namens Borderlands, 2020 ins Studio ging, um den Nachfolger seines Debüts „Asteroida" aufzunehmen. Die vier Stücke auf „Wander sphere" sind zwischen 20 und 40 Minuten lang und erleben in ihrem Verlauf eine schier grenzenlose Variation an Stimmungen, melodischen Ideen, rhythmischen Impulsen und Arten sowie Weisen der Kommunikation. Es bedarf eines großen Repertoires und Vokabulars, um 40 Minuten am Stück die Energie und den Bogen spontaner, durch drei geteilter Interaktion aufrecht zu erhalten und wahrscheinlich auch eine kleine Portion Wahnsinn. Wahnsinnig gut gelungen ist das Ergebnis dieses überlangen Experiments. Die drei Jazz-Avantgardisten begeben sich gemeinsam auf tiefgründige Erkundungen von Klängen und Formen, verfallen dabei aber nie in klischeebehaftete chromatische Ekstasen, sondern suchen stets den noch nicht begangenen Weg. Dieser kennt das tonale Wesen, motivische Durchführungen und sich wiederholende perkussive Figuren. Er ist aber auch von abstrakten Gebilden gezeichnet, flächige Strukturen und ungeordnete Passagen intuitiven Musizierens, die der Atmosphäre dienen, nicht der Form und schon gar nicht dem Format. Freier, autonomer Jazz in all seiner Ausführlichkeit.

Free improvising -- music-making with no pre-planned material -- was a legit jazz option by the late 1940s, when Lennie Tristano’s gang dipped into it. Then came 1960s' free jazz, though even then, most bands still played tunes, however briefly. Free play was going mainstream by the 1980s when the acclaimed Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette trio only played improvisations and (unrehearsed) standards. For many jazz combinations nowadays it’s one tack among many, like playing over a funk or Brazilian rhythm. Jazzy bands that only improvise are rare, a pity since free play that swings is a beautiful thing. Which brings us to one of my favorite ensembles working now, the limber Borderlands Trio of pianist Kris Davis, bassist (and organizer) Stephan Crump and drummer Eric McPherson.

Skeptics used to dismiss free play as like tennis without a net -- too easy. After all, you only have to listen to and respond to what the other players are doing, instantly -- and have good instincts for when not to play, and when and how to reenter: sneak in, or announce yourself? You might pursue an independent line, parallel to whatever else is happening, or y’all might collectively coalesce around some spontaneous melody or motif. For variety, after a suitable amount of time, you’ll want to move on via graceful or violent transition, to some new episode, and begin again. At least that’s how the Borderlanders do it: a trapeze act without a net. They play long continuous spontaneous suites, and on their double-disc sophomore outing Wandersphere they put the concept to the test, by playing four of them. (David Stoller recorded the nearly two-hour program at the Samurai Hotel in Queens; Crump did the dry, clear mix. Extra points for not putting himself out front.)

Davis’s 2019 all-star album Diatom Ribbons and her work with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice have brought her wider attention, after years of being recognized as a terrific improvising pianist. She can do (and undo) quick preparations of the piano strings, for West African mbira or Indonesian gamelan timbral effects, without getting too literal/appropriative. With a firm, pliant touch at the keys, she can play lacy harmony with the right hand or snaky Lennie Tristano lines in the bass, can set strings a-humming using a guitarist’s e-bow, and scrabble fast and lightly over the keyboard’s high notes with no loss of propulsion. She has power but is never, ever drearily heavy. Bassist Crump’s plump plucked sound has gravitas; he makes himself felt in an ensemble where any member may take up the initiative at any time. And he gets a confident, frictive singing bass sound when he picks up his bow.

Eric McPherson came up playing with heavy swingers like Jackie McLean, was in inside/outside pianist Andrew Hill’s last band, and then joined a long-running Fred Hersch trio. The drummer can play over open terrain but obviously loves to swing, so flexible momentum is a given. As he reminds us over and over, there are infinite ways to swing on the drum kit, so many beats and inflections and colors. He never treats those swinging patterns like dogma: join me or else. More like: Hey! Here’s something else we can try.

Playing free, there’s always a temptation to dive in on what someone else is doing. When one trio member pivots, they all may, but each can be contrary too. There’s a moment on “An Invitation to Disappear” where McPherson slips into rapid pulsing on bass drum and cymbals -- an invitation in itself. But rhythmic or melodic counterpoint may be a more creative option. Rather than hopping on, Crump takes up an episodic base line, leaving space for responses the pianist obligingly provides. And McPherson obligingly fades out the pulsing out, comes back with more conversational maneuvers behind that piano-bass dialogue; they will all circle back to more overt time-playing soon enough. There are no end of deft transitions: one rhythm creeping up behind another, an adjustment in one’s player’s phrasing deflecting the trio toward a new inflection. They take the time to explore each new development but have excellent instincts for moving on, for not over-milking. They groove, but never on auto-pilot, keeping their footing on an ever-shifting terrain. And when someone gets quiet, the others will get out of the way.

Highlighting McPherson’s essential role, “Possible Futures” sticks with some kind of time-play for most of its 25 minutes. Swing is infectious. I often wish outward-bound musicians did more of it. One prominent avant-ish leader once told me, when the band starts swinging, they start listening to the rhythm section and not to each other. When the band’s all rhythm section, that is not a problem.

https://www.theaudiobeat.com/music/borderlands_trio_wandersphere_cd.htm

Das Borderlands Trio ist im Prinzip ein Klaviertrio, aber auf ihrer zweiten Veröffentlichung haben sich Pianistin Kris Davis, Bassist Stephan Crump und Schlagzeuger Eric McPherson alle Zeit der Welt genommen. Auf gleich zwei CDs finden sich vier Studioimprovisationen, die zwischen 20 und 40 Minuten lang sind. Die Stücke, wenn man sie denn so nennen will, haben einen unvergleichlich langen Atem und sind mit dem Begriff Free Jazz nur unzureichend charakterisiert. Das liegt daran, dass die drei alles zulassen, was ihnen in den Sinn kommt: Aus vorsichtiger Klangforschung entwickeln sich balladeske Momente, Groovepassagen wechseln sich ab mit furiosem High-Energy-Playing. „Wir versuchen nicht, irgendwelche Einflüsse zurückzuhalten“, kommentiert Crump diese Haltung. Für McPherson, der sonst bei Fred Hersch zu hören ist, war die gemeinsam improvisierte Musik „das ultimative Geburtstagsgeschenk“ – er wurde am Tag der Aufnahme 50 Jahre alt.

https://www.jazzthing.de/review/borderlands-trio-wandersphere/