Ingrid Laubrock True Improviser, Serious Composer

After 20 years on the London scene, where she collaborated with brazilian singer Mônica Vasconcelos and was a member of the F-Ire Collective, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock moved to New York in 2009.

Since settling into the Columbia Heights section of Brooklyn, Laubrock has been making an impact on the scene centered around cutting-edge Brooklyn venues like The Owl Music Parlor, Lun Atico and Roulette, as well as John Zorn's Manhattan performance space, The Stone.

"Moving to New York was an important step," said Laubrock, who topped the category Rising Star-Tenor Saxophone in this year's Critics Poll. "There are so many amazing musi- cians here, and especially as a composer, I feel I can pretty much write anything and find open- minded and great musicians to realize it." Laubrock, who studied in London in 1992 with ex-Jazz Messenger Jean Toussaint and in the States during the summer of 1998 with Dave Liebman, described herself as a reluctant composer. "I didn't start until I was 27 or 28 years old," explained the native of Stadtlohn, Germany. "In retrospect, I think that I was nervous about the finality of putting something down on paper and saying, 'This is me. Then the bug bit and I realized that, like with everything else, you only get better by doing it."

Her composing skills blossomed in New York through her groups Paradoxical Trio (pianist Kris Davis, drummer Tyshawn Sorey), Anti-
House (Davis, guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist John Hébert, drummer Tom Rainey) and the Ingrid Laubrock Octet (Halvorson, Rainey, pianist Liam Noble, bassist Drew Gress, cellist Ben Davis, accordionist Ted Reichman, trumpeter Tom Arthurs).

"As I was new in New York and it takes time to become part of a scene, I suddenly had more time than I ever had before as an adult," she recalled of her early years in the Big Apple. "That gave me headspace to think about what I did and what I did not want to do. Composing filled those periods."

In addition to Davis, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, bassist Stephan Crump (who appears with her and pianist Cory Smythe on the 2017 Intact release Planktonic Finales) and her house-band, Rainey (whom she married in 2010), the saxophonist considers Halvorson to be an essential musical ally."Mary is one of the first musicians I played with in New York, and I am very grateful for that connection, not only as a musician but also as my friend," Laubrock said. "I had heard of her when living in London, but first listened to her play live with [drummer] Tomas Fujiwara's The Hook Up at Barbès in Brooklyn. I was immediately impressed by her unique way of playing. Her compositions are just as true, personal and
creative as her playing. Also, Mary introduced me to Anthony Braxton, who has been the most life-changing musician I have met. So, I owe
her big-time for that." [Laubrock was part of Braxton's Diamond Curtain Wall ensemble and his Falling River Music Quartet.]

Rainey and Laubrock-who met in the U.K. at the 2004 Cheltenham Jazz Festival-have an ongoing duo that highlights their conversational exchanges in a purely improvised setting. Their third duet recording, Buoyancy, was released in 2016 on the Relative Pitch label.

"Ingrid is rare in the sense that she is a true improviser, as well as a serious composer," Rainey said, "meaning she doesn't just write music that is a vehicle for her to solo over. For Anti-House, she brings a unique compositional perspective, as well as her prowess as an improviser. And for my trio and Sleepthief [their trio with pianist Noble],
she brings a personal sound and spontaneity that is completely her own. Our duo is where we can meet and distill everything else we're involved in musically to a very direct improvisational place."

Next up for Laubrock is Pieces For Orchestra With Soloists, an Intakt album slated for release in November. Pieces includes two commissioned works: Vogelfrei, which was premiered in 2014 at Roulette by Braxton's Tri-Centric Orchestra, and Contemporary Chaos Practices, which was premiered at the 2017 Moers Festival by the Cologne-based EOS Chamber Orchestra.

"[Because] the project involves 47 musicians, I count myself lucky to have been able to docu- ment both works," she said.

Fritt frem

Tre av den moderne New York-jazzens fremste stemmer har møtt hverandre og lar det stå til – med suksess.Stephan Crump, Cory Smythe og Ingrid Laubrock – åpen og søkende ny trio.

Den tyske tenor- og sopransaksofonisten Ingrid Laubrock har vært bosatt i New York, nærmere bestemt Brooklyn, rundt ti år. Der har hun blitt stadig mer sentral i mye av det spennende som skjer i skjæringspunktet mellom impro, frijazz og moderne, komponert musikk.

Laubrock hadde hatt ørene på stilk og ant at et samarbeid med bassisten Stephan Crump, som blant annet jobber mye med Vijay Iyer, og pianisten Cory Smythe, en viktig del i trommeslageren Tyshawn Soreys univers, kunne føre til noe.

Laubrock "innkalte" til et treff uten at noe var forutbestemt og kjemien stemte fra første pling. Alle var like begeistra og "øvelse" nummer to blei like godt denne plateinnspillinga. De elleve "låtene" er alle spontant unnfanga og uten trommer framstår de som noe som kanskje kan kalles akustisk kammerfrijazz.

Her har vi med tre lyttere i ultraklassen å gjøre. Smythe, som jeg ikke kjenner fra før, kommer fra samtidsmusikk og bringer helt nye elementer inn her, mens Crump oppleves som den straighteste av de tre – Laubrock er den som står for utblåsningene – bokstavelig talt. Til sammen har de altså skapt noe eget – nok et fint eksempel på at Brooklyn kanskje er den mest interessante bydelen i jazzverdenen nå.

PS Dessuten synes jeg Trump bør avsettes så snart som mulig.

https://torhammero.blogg.no/1523793391_fritt_frem.html