Adventurous German saxophonist Silke Eberhard has long favored the trio format as a proving ground, even as she splits her time with her larger Potsa Lotsa ensemble, and other projects. With bassist Jan Roder and drummer Kay Lübke, she has cultivated a rapport that feels both intuitive and restless. Being-A-Ning, the group's fifth release—each one bearing the word "being" in its title—reaffirms that bond while pushing it forward. Although all three principals are well-versed in convention, rather than confining their prowess, it bestows a platform for left-field digressions.

Such latitude is clear in the way the leader's shapely phrases dissolve into scrawling shrieks or jarring multiphonics, only to rebalance, reconsider and continue on their poised path. In her sometimes abrupt switches from sunshine to squall, she recalls saxophonist Oliver Lake. It comes as no surprise then, that the angular head and stop-start impulses of "Lake" are dedicated to him. Like the American, Eberhard is an avowed disciple of Eric Dolphy, manifest in the intervallic leaps which enliven both her writing and her taut corkscrewing alto saxophone.

Roder and Lübke, veterans of Eberhard's other groups, embody the unit's inside/outside ethos with assurance. Lübke in particular amplifies the coloristic palette, whether rustling shells under Roder's wiry solo on "Golden Fish" or shifting his attack across different cymbals to signal transitions on the opening track, "What's In Your Bag," a tune that bursts from the gate with a bouncy Ornette Coleman-like gait and a breathless onward motion.

The program's concision—ten cuts in just over 45 minutes—adds to its impact. The title number rides a sinuous post-bop line, which veers between sprightly dash and retarded sway, punctuated by crisp drum breaks during the recapitulation. "Sao" frames exchanges of clanking metal, arco bass filigree and vaulting alto, while staggered interlocking parts launch the closing "Rubber Boots," which features Eberhard ramping up to a belligerent squawk. Each piece highlights the threesome's ability to balance precision with abandon, discipline with disruption.

Being-A-Ning confirms the Silke Eberhard Trio as an archetypal contemporary working outfit: one that tips its hat to its forebears while carving out its own niche in ingenious style.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/being-a-ning-silke-eberhard-trio-intakt-records

Enjoy a playlist featuring large ensembles of various shapes and sounds, the music and spirit of Misha Mengelberg and the versatility of Silke Eberhard.

Happy listening!

Playlist

Ben Allison "Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00
Jasper Blom "White Stripes" Multipolarity (Whirlwind) 0:16
Host speaks 9:17
Artchipel Orchestra "Anatole" Officine Mengelberg (Musica Jazz) 11:34
ICP Orchestra "The Gig" Live @ Plantage Dok (ICP) 17:48
Host speaks 28:28
Potsa Lotsa XL "Orthotactic" Amoeba's Dance (Trouble in the East) 29:56
Silke Eberhard Trio "What's in Your Bag" Being-a-Ning (Intakt) 33:39
Host speaks 38:09
Hans Lüdemann's TransEuropeExpress Ensemble, feat. Rita Marcotulli "Leggerezza" On the Edges 3 (BMC) 40:08

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/silke-eberhard-artchipel-orchestra-icp-orchestra-jasper-blom-and-more

Bird, Monk, Dolphy, vor allem Dolphy. Und die Folgen. Bei Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Oliver
Lake... Und bei der Leaderin des SILKE EBERHARD TRIOs, die, zusammen mit Jan Roder
am Bass, Kay Lübke an Drums und Henry Threadgills Zooid im Hinterkopf, bei Being-a-
Ning (Intakt CD 435) den Bebop-Bug im 21. Jh. willkommen heißt. Um Monks 'Rhythm-a-
Ning' mit ihrem zentralen Begriff 'Being' zu verbinden. Für neue Tänze ('New Dance') mit
'Rubber Boots', eine 'Stranger Bossa', einen Streifzug mit Kratzebogen in 'Die Urwald II'.
'Hans im Glück' tauscht einen 'Golden Fish' gegen leere Hände, es genügen die übervoll
kreativen Köpfe. Eine so kecke, quicklebendige Form des Seins wie die hier mit dem Altosax
gefeierte, in Roders Fingern juckende, mit Stöckchen und Muscheln aufgerührte, aus
welchem Forellenbach ist sie gefischt, aus welchem Jungbrunnen gezaubert? Nibbelt man
da schon am Cthulhuzän, und der Urwald ist ein Weib? Intervallsprünge, Synkopen,
singende und murmelnde Fingerbeeren, kichernde Stöckchen, die Beats ein Klacks, ein
hagelnder, knatternder Groove. Jedes Stück ein Wimmelbild aus Schlaraffenland, der
Duktus wenn nicht aufgekratzt, dann lakonisch oder versponnen, die Erscheinung veränderlich
wie bei 'nem Octopus.

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Lek-ing

Når man velger en albumtittel som <«Being-a-Ning», skaper det nødvendigvis visse forventninger blant jazzentusiaster. Tittelen er et spill på Thelonious Monks <». Dette antyder lekenhet.

Den tyske altsaksofonisten Silke Ebehrad album-debuterte som gjest på United Women's Orchestras 1999-utgivelse «Blue One», og har utover en betydelig andel originalmateriale tolket både Ornette Coleman og Eric Dolphy. Siden siste halvdel av 2000-tallet har trioen hennes med kon-trabassisten Jan Roder og trommeslageren Kay Lübke vært det ensemblet hun har jobbet mest regelmessig med. Deres albumdebut fra 2008 het <