Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey have been creative and life partners for over fourteen years, and have released a lot of music together, including a dozen albums on Intakt alone. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, they livestreamed duo performances from their Brooklyn apartment, and the 13 pieces on this 42-minute album have the same intimacy. Although the tracks were recorded in a studio (Brooklyn Recording), the results often seem like they're trying to make sure they don't tick off neighbors: hence headphones are very much recommended for optimal listening.

The album contains seven pieces, ranging from three and a half to seven and a half minutes in length. The first, "Flock of Conclusions", begins with the saxophonist in a questing, almost meditative mode, journeying up and down the tenor's range as though singing a lullaby. Eventually, she rises to a level of middling intensity, though it takes a while. Conversely, the album closer, “Said, Been Said", begins with long drones and soft scrapes as well as slashes from Rainey, as if bringing the music back down to earth and tucking it away. And much of the time in between, Laubrock operates in a lyrical, even romantic mode, while Rainey dances delicately on cymbals, adding occasional gentle tom strikes for emphasis. One of the few tracks on which he lets a thumping beat break loose is "Scrunch Repercussions".

The main pieces are broken up by six interludes: "Brink" (I through VI), each hovering around one minute. In those segments, Laubrock cuts loose in a variety of unsettling ways. Sometimes she plays repetitive squiggling figures like an Al Evan Parker; sometimes she sounds like a furiously crying baby fighting an equally furious duck; at other times she's just gently whistling through a tube. Behind her, Rainey frequently scrapes his cymbals and the rim of his snare. These tracks are exactly as long as they need to be, providing a moment's respite before each longer work, and also reminding the listener of the creative and entertainment potential of just freely being a weirdo for a brief minute.

Enge Verzahnung, aber keine Nachahmung: Wenn Ingrid Laubrock und Tom Rainey einander treffen, erzeugen Saxophon und Schlagzeug die Aura kreativer Nähe. Verschiedene Bestandteile des Instrumentariums werden in freiem, flüssigem Verlauf zum Klingen gebracht, das Rohrblatt-Mundstück von Laubrock ebenso wie die perkussiv arbeitenden Sticks (Anspieltipp: >>>Brink II<<). Dieses quirlig-spontan agierende Duo weiß freilich auch die Zeit zu verlangsamen und sich wie im Fall der >>>Liquified Columns<< - auf jene stationären Klanggeräusche zu konzentrieren, die im Gedächtnis haften bleiben. Wie das kunstvolle, passgenau auf diese anziehende Musik zugeschnittene Booklet von Fiona Ryan.

SAXOFONISTEN Ingrid Laubrock och trumslagaren Tom Rainey gästade ihop med Rainey. Der bada väletablerade musiker internationellt och listorna pà andra musiker de spelat med kan göras langa. Duo mellan saxofon och trummor r något speciellt och sedan John Coltrane och Rashied Ali spelade in den banbrytande skivan Interstellar Space 1967 har ett antal musiker inom den fria Föreningen för fri improviserad musik (FRIM) i Stockholm i oktober. Vi var en privilegierad liten skara, mäste jag säga, som hade samlats i Teater Tribunalens foajé för att höra denna duo fran Brooklyn, New York. En kväll som de för övrigt delade med gitarristen Agnes Persson och pianisten Rasmus Mannervik. Konserten ingick i en turné för att lansera denna skiva som spelades in tidigare i r. Laubrock och Rainey har spelat ihop i olika konstellationer sedan 2007. Laubrock, som ocks är en framstende kompositör, kommer ursprungligen från Tyskland men är bosatt i New York sedan 2008.

Brink (Intakt CD 425) ist das intime Unter-sich des musikalischen Paares INGRID LAUBROCK-TOM RAINEY, vergleichbar mit Mark Feldman / Sylvie Courvoisier oder Satoko Fujii / Natsuki Tamura. Nels Cline hört im Zusammenklang von Saxophon und Drums exemplarisch schlichte Menschlichkeit, gepaart mit Magie. Eskapistische und therapeutische Magie in corona-bedingter Isolation für sich selbst und beispielhaft für andere. Abwechselnd mit Soprano- oder Tenorsax, abwechselnd melodisch sublim oder stürmisch und ostinat, in sechs 'Brink'-Miniaturen dann mit dissonantem Gusto und wie mit Vogelpfeifen, quäkend, greinend, flötend. Während Rainey dazu scharrt, klappert oder kollert, befördert und untermalt er Laubrocks helldunkle Gesänge mit rollendem, kollerndem, knatterndem Drive, klickernden Becken oder als kleinlauter Tambour und die versonnenden Lyrismen oder heiser gestöhnten Sorgen mit Messingtupfen und paukigen, gongigen, tapsigen Klängen. Sie bläst: Du Du Du und Ich, Du Du und Ich ('Scrunch Repercussions'). Sie bläst Trübsal, ob's je wieder besser wird, und nimmt sich mit poetischem Zungenschlag einen Vorschuss, mit zarten Lippen einen Vorgeschmack ('Arrival of Never'). Bluesig-sonor und voller Sehnsucht zu monotonen Schlägen, flirrenden und klirrenden Wirbeln, dunklem Summen, tickenden und tapsenden Beats ('Said, Been Said"). Es geht doch nichts über gelingende Zweisamkeit. [BA 125 rbd]

Capitò a Benny Goodman grazie al titolo italiano di un film del 1955 di essere chiamato «re del jazz». Un’esagerazione che non piacque ai puristi nonostante il clarinettista e bandleader dell’epoca swing fosse davvero formidabile. Oggi, pur ammettendo la scorrettezza di simili terminologie onorifiche, osiamo proporre una «regina del jazz» ed è Ingrid Laubrock. Tempi ben diversi e idiomi rivoluzionati rispetto a quelli dell’epoca del grande Benny. Addirittura si esita un po’ a pronunciare la parola jazz, tali e tanto consistenti sono le varianti rispetto a una lunga meravigliosa tradizione. Ma l’esitazione va superata. Si gioca.
Laubrock, tedesca di nascita (Stadtlohn) e newyorchese di residenza ormai da anni, è proprio ai vertici, non si riesce a immaginarla se non come una dea, una musicista toccata dalla grazia.

LA SUA GRAZIA fino a qualche tempo fa si è notata per il rilievo assoluto di alcune opere in veste di compositrice o organizzatrice di lavori d’assieme per piccoli e meno piccoli ensemble. Laubrock geniale era ormai un fattore acquisito dopo l’uscita, per esempio, di Dream Twice, Twice Dream e di Monochromes. Non si parlava di scrittura – e che scrittura casomai! – perché il metodo dell’agire jazzistico o post-jazzistico è sempre stato, ai tempi di Goodman e di Ellington come ai tempi nostri, quello di una combinazione tra parti annotate e parti inventate al momento. Si continuava comunque a dimenticare l’esplosiva creatività di Laubrock solista (di sax tenore e soprano) come si ascoltava, sempre per esempio, in Blood Moon (con la pianista Kris Davis). Adesso, con l’uscita per Intakt di Brink, non si può più fare i distratti. Lei è in duo col percussionista Tom Rainey (suo marito) e il valore di questa «musica a due» è immenso. Ma è il solismo di Laubrock che lascia semplicemente stupefatti.

SI TRATTA di una maniera nuovissima di operare sull’improvvisazione tematica di rollinsiana memoria. Solo che qui di temi veri e propri non ce n’è. Il brano d’apertura, Flock of Conclusions, racchiude sicuramente un’idea di «melodia infinita». Non un nucleo chiuso che si apre alla variazione o alla pura invenzione suggerita da quel nucleo. È una melodia ininterrotta che viene continuamente elaborata: spezzata, scossa, ora resa cantabile con curve inaudite, ora resa puro timbro. Con la souplesse di un Coleman Hawkins (o di un Lee Konitz? più «kafkiano, però) e con l’«astrazione» galattica/autoanalitica di uno Sciarrino.
È pensiero nuovo sulla melodia, questo. Ci sono nell’album 7 brani con lo statuto di «compiutezza» e 6 brani di 1 minuto intitolati, appunto, Brink e numerati che stanno tra uno e l’altro dei brani «maggiori» e hanno una funzione tutta da indagare, da scoprire. Sono preludi? No, perché all’inizio e alla fine di questa suite anomala «vengono dopo». Sono suggerimenti? Sono «scorie» preziosissime? Non sappiamo. Forse sono appunti per racconti. Laubrock vi suona il soprano, dissolve il timbro e qualsiasi registro, vagheggia con Rainey una musica elettronica senza elettronica. Nei brani «compiuti» l’approccio è più classico e l’azzardo sta tutto negli inesauribili itinerari melodici della solista. Che conosce l’ultra-free e conosce la storia del jazz. Questa è Ingrid Laubrock «regina» della sintesi propulsiva. Ama il piacere del virtuosismo. Cioè? Destare l’ammirazione di chi ascolta ben oltre le attese o le previsioni o le logiche più sperimentali.

https://ilmanifesto.it/ingrid-laubrock-un-altro-pensiero-sulla-melodia

Heute mit einigen neuen Cds des Labels Intakt Records:

The Choir Invisible: Town of two faces
Charlotte Greve (as, voc), Vinnie Sperrazza (dr), Chris Tordini (b), Fay Victor (voc)

Ingrid Laubrock (ss, ts), Tom Rainey (dr): Brink

James Brandon Lewis Quartett: Transfiguration
James Brandon Lewis (ts), Aruan Ortiz (p), Brad Jones (b), Chad Taylor (dr)

Dave Murray Quartett: Francesca
Dave Murray (ts, bc), Marta Sanchez (p), Luke Steward (b), Russel Carter (dr)

Vorankündigung:

Jazzfestival Freiburg 14.-22. Sep. 2024 mit Minigipfel und Jazz im Grünen. Nähere Infos unter
www.jazzfestival-freiburg.de und in den Jazzsendungen.

Am Mikrophon: Hardy

https://rdl.de/beitrag/jazz-news-samstag-07092024-10-uhr

Could there be a more intimate sound than that of Brink? The saxophone/drums recording by reedist Ingrid Laubrock and percussionist Tom Rainey is as personal as it gets between two working jazz improvisers. The reason may be that Laubrock and Rainey are not just partners in music, but also life partners. Rainey is one of the most in-demand drummers working today. He can be heard in bands led by Ivo Perelman, Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, and Fay Victor. He also leads his ensembles, Tom Rainey Obbligato, and trio, both of which include Laubrock's saxophone. Likewise, Laubrock can be heard in ensemble led by Mary Halvorson, Nate Wooley, Kris Davis, and Anthony Braxton. She leads her own orchestra, octet, septet, a sextet, Anti-House; a quintet Ubatuba; and duos with everyone from Argentinian electronics artist Cecilia Lopez to Japanese pianist Aki Takase.

These partners were first captured as a duet with And Other Desert Towns (Relative Pitch, 2014), followed by Buoyancy (Relative Pitch, 2016), and Utter (Relative Pitch, 2018). The real precursors to Brink though were the Stir Crazy Episodes (2020), the pair's self-released recordings during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

This disc is made up of seven tracks, four composed by Laubrock, three improvised, and in-between, six one-minute-in-length "Brink" intervals, some composed others improvised, which act as a kind of palate cleanser. The absence of noisy loud passages evidences the intimacy referred to in the opening. Rainey favors brushes over sticks for the most part, and Laubrock likes a compact sound. She works the edges of her saxophones on "Flock Of Conclusions" "Liquified Columns," and "Brink VI" by gently and in sotto voce overblowing. Her delivery can sound like birdsong: "Coaxing;" or she can parody a baby's cry "Brink II" and "Brink V." For both Laubrock and Rainey, breath is a driving vehicle of this session. The saxophone can morph into flute-like sounds—"Brink III" and "Brink IV"—and Rainey's attack resembles a long-relaxed exhale. He barely touches cymbals with his brushes to put the finishing touches on this fine drawing.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/brink-ingrid-laubrock-tom-rainey-intakt-records

Some formats I don't care for at all. But sax and drums I do. Interstellar Space laid the template for the format in an avant guise. So, when two experimental improvisers like Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey tackle the discipline there is a road map to be embraced or just as easily to be ignored. The last time the concept really worked and Brink really works too incidentally was Binker and Moses' Dem Ones which was far closer to the Coltrane and Rashied Ali model than is entered upon here. Brink is less ferocious (but certainly not for the faint of heart) than Coltrane and Rashied Ali's out-there masterpiece. In fact, what's here belongs to a different planet entirely given that both Laubrock and Rainey have long since sounded like nobody else but themselves.

These 13 tracks include 6 in the 'Brink' series. German saxist Laubrock is a different less obviously bravura player than Binker Golding. Also to her credit and like Golding in this regard she isn't a Coltrane copycat at all.

The more intense of the pieces are those involving soprano saxophone. And on the first of the 'Brink' pieces one even enters the Evan Parker universe a bit. But again it's all very much a Laubrock iteration of it timbrally and aesthetically.

Other tracks of this recording made in New York in April are actually not that avant at all - a low rumbling from Rainey set against meditative tenor on 'Coaxing' is abstract but not at all cold nor hermetically sealed as some more extreme and less clear headed improv can be. Best bits? The bell like tolling from Rainey on 'Liquified Columns' and the baby-like scream on both 'Brink' no. 2 and no. 5 is extraordinary from Laubrock. It's that kind of recording when lots of moments grab you by the lapels and force a reaction whether you end up pro or anti. Being indifferent to its formidable thesis is never really an option given the immediacy of what the duo cook up.

https://www.marlbank.net/post/ingrid-laubrock-tom-rainey-brink-intakt-1-2

Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey present a fresh and captivating exploration of sound in their latest album, Brink. This album not only showcases their individuality as creative artists but also highlights the unique duo identity they have honed through numerous sessions, including those recorded in their Brooklyn apartment during the pandemic.

Brink continues their intimate and nuanced relationship with sound and texture, alternating between shorter, intricately designed pieces ("brinks") and more extended forms where they deftly navigate both tempestuous and delicate atmospheres. What fuels the album’s opening track, “Flock of Conclusions”, is the fluidity of a conversation that ebbs and flows vividly, reaching a relevant expressive dimension.

The co-composed piece “Coaxing” showcases Laubrock’s assertive tenor saxophone phrases, which gradually gain weight and meaning over Rainey’s deep, resonant tom-tom work. The controlled flow gives way to an eruptive rhythmic surge in the final section, a cathartic exploration of freedom. Rainey, with his acute sense of musical integration, contributes significantly to Laubrock’s enigmatic composition “Liquified Columns”, where sparse yet tense free musings are punctuated by metallic sounds, deep drumming, and growling saxophone multiphonics. The closing track, “Said, Been Said”, shares a similarly intense spirit.

In “A Peculiar Logic”, another collaborative composition, the duo creates a tight lock-step rhythm, with Laubrock soaring high on soprano sax over Rainey’s comfortable cymbal and snare chatter. “Scrunch Repercussions”, which came out of Laubrock’s mind, is obliquely cut through, a masterclass in articulation and synergistic interplay that evolves in a distinctly tangy style, incorporating martial snare fluxes, well-aligned saxophone outputs, and powerful riffs that trigger dynamic rhythmic motions.

Throughout the album, the telepathic communication between Laubrock and Rainey is on full display, bringing unpredictable forms, surprising timbres, and strains of melody underpinned by exquisite rhythms. Sparking with inventiveness, these freewheeling pieces navigate a range of moods, offering a rich source of inspiration for creative jazz explorers.
https://jazztrail.net/blog/ingrid-laubrock-tom-rainey-brink-album-review

Via de ene drummer uit New York, Ches Smith, beland ik bij de ander: Tom Rainey. De ideale sideman, internationaal geliefd. Ook in Europa, of wellicht moet ik – als ik naar de vier albums die in de komende twee recensies centraal staan – wel concluderen: vooral in Europa. De van oorsprong Duitse saxofoniste en levenspartner Ingrid Laubrock mag dan inmiddels Amerikaans staatburger zijn, dat geldt niet voor Yannick Peeters en Stefan Schulze van wie hier morgen recente albums aan bod komen. Maar eerst het team Laubrock – Rainey. Op het eind vorig jaar verschenen ‘Mononchromes’ horen we ze in gezelschap van saxofonist Jon Irabagon, harpiste Zeena Parkins, trompettist Nate Wooley en accordeonist Adam Matlock. Met die laatste twee is bovendien iets bijzonders aan de hand: Laubrock nam de muziek van te voren op en bracht het digitaal in tijdens de uiteindelijke opnames. Samen met een aantal ‘Sonambient Sculptures’ van Harry Bertoia. Verder kwam deze maand ‘Brink’ uit waarop we Laubrock en Rainey samen horen.

In de inleiding tot ‘Monochromes’ legt Laubrock uit dat muziek voor haar een manier is om zich emotioneel te uiten, via klank kan ze overbrengen wat haar met woorden niet lukt. Op persoonlijk niveau maar ook op het niveau van de wereldproblematiek: “Times are tumultueus and the world feels like it’s wobbled far off its axis. This record reflects those feelings. But hope, love and beauty exist even in the hardest of hard times, and my own hope is that this music expresses all three.” Welnu, dat doet het, in dit bijzondere stuk van bijna veertig minuten, waaruit overigens ook duidelijk blijkt dat Laubrock zich steeds verder ontwikkelt als componist. De zware en indringende klanknevel aan het begin van deze compositie staat voor mij voor al die wereldwijde onrust, slechts doorbroken door Rainey’s gerichte slagen. Dan horen we ineens Laubrock op sopraansax en Irabagon op sopranino scherp hier doorheen komen. En zo rond de zevende minuut klinken die saxklanken pijnlijk ontregelend, terwijl geleidelijk die drone weer opdoemt. Halverwege deze wonderlijke compositie loopt de onrust alleen maar verder op, een overdaad aan experimentele klanken wordt ons deel, van jazz lopend naar noise en rock. De rust die zo rond de dertigste minuut intreedt, de bekoorlijk fragiele klankwereld die Laubrock hier neerzet, associeer ik met de hoop, het licht dat door de duisternis breekt. Een bijzonder veelzijdig en knap gemaakt album.

‘Brink’ is in tegenstelling tot dit ‘Monochromes’ traditioneel te noemen. De stukken ontstonden in de tijd van Covid-19 toen de twee musici niet veel andere musici zagen dan elkaar. We beginnen met mooi ingetogen klanken van Laubrock op ‘Flock of Conclusions’. Het is even over de helft als de ritmiek erin kruipt en we vrij kort ook even Rainey horen. Bijzonder klinkt de samenwerking op ‘Coaching’, een krachtige ritmiek van Rainey en boeiend meanderend spel van Laubrock, dat naarmate het stuk vordert een steeds feller karakter krijgt. Bijzonder klinkt ook het klankkunstwerk ‘Liquified Columns’, een schrijnende sopraansax en tot de verbeelding sprekende percussie vallen her prachtig samen. In ‘A Peculiar Logic’ horen we Laubrock op sopraansax, net als in bijna alle stukken ook hier weer heel subtiel, maar uiterst doeltreffend begeleid door Rainey. Een uitzondering hierop vormt het bijzonder ritmische ‘Scrunch Repercussions’, waarin de twee een aangename dialoog aangaan. Ale laatste klinkt het prachtig ingetogen ”Said, been said’, waarbij ik moest denken aan de woorden van Laubrock hierboven over het verklanken van emoties. Dit stuk is daar een prachtig voorbeeld van. Verder bevat het album zes delen ‘Brink’, allemaal zo rond de minuut. Ze zitten verspreid over het album, opvallend experimentele saxklanken presenteert Laubrock ons hier.

https://www.nieuwenoten.nl/?p=18157