Let’s indulge in cliché and state that cellist Tomeka Reid has many strings in her bow. Besides an academic career, Chicago-based Reid has worked with multiple advanced musicians in Europe and the US. Recorded less than a month apart, these representative trio sessions find her exhibiting complementary but still distinctive actions. A raspy Free Jazz outing, Beyond Dragons runs through seven compositions by German alto saxophonist Angelica Niescier, who has recorded in duo with Alexander Hawkins, as has Reid. Third player is New York drummer Savannah Harris, who has played with Kris Davis. More playful, Pith is an iteration of drummer Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio with mostly his compositions expanded by Reid and Mexican vibraphonist Patricia Brennan.

Niescier’s triple-tongued ferocity, jagged bites and reed slurps evolve as the cello and percussion vamp behind her. Alternately her concentrated sax strategies are doubled by drum pressure and/or arco cello pops. Whether the tunes are speedy or slow, swinging or stop-time, the intersectional shading means that there’s really no forefront instrument. Meanwhile a track such as “A Dance, to Never End” goes through several permutations. Beginning with a soft, almost so-called classical cello drones and understated drum beats, obtuse reed flutters move up the scale to screech variations. Drum accents and cello swirls continue to goose the excitement level. In contrast Harris’ martial beat on “Risse” faces broken octave cello sweeps as the saxophonist alternates harsh blasts and moderated slurs. The climax occurs as the formerly deconstructed tune is reassembled with reed flutters and string swells. These nimble shifts from moderato to staccato and back again, usually during the same track, characterize the session. Although percussion stress, prestissimo string glissandi and reed honks project heightened intensity, the trio members’ skill maintains horizontal connections. maintained.

Brennan’s mallet rolling tremolo sustain and multiple bar resonation makes Pith a more relaxed affair. The vibes’ supple ringing compared to a strident blowing reed, contribute to this, especially when Reid’s pizzicato response takes on double bass-like pulsations and Fujiwara emphasizes consistent rattle and claps. But the relaxed results are anything but sonically flimsy. Melding each player’s contributions on a track like “Resolve”, colors the thematic outline with a rainbow of timbres including arco cello expansions, positioned drum smacks and slow-motion echoes from the vibes. Simplified the contrapuntal interactions project strength as well as sprightliness. Careful to moderate the pace and sonority, andante movement with a walking bass line and simple drum rolls also leaves space for single note elaboration from Brennan as well as sporadic applications of upward string slices and paced drum rattles. Pressure is applied, but so subtly that the buoyant progression isn’t upset.

Maintaining both quick switches and sympathetic consistency on both sessions, Reid substantiates her role as a player and improviser. The other four player involved show similar adaptability as well as writers and interpretations of distinct compositions.

https://www.jazzword.com/reviews/angelica-niescier-tomeka-reid-savannah-harris/

The New York City Jazz Record

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD BEST OF 2023 BEST OF 2023 BEST OF 2023
HONORABLE MENTIONS-NEW RELEASES
Alexander Hawkins Trio - Carnival Celestial (Intakt)
Angelika Niescier/Tomeka Reid/Savannah Harris - Beyond Dragons (Intakt)
Anna Webber - Shimmer Wince (Intakt)
Michael Formanek Elusion Quartet - As Things Do (Intakt)
Sylvie Courvoisier - Chimaera (Intakt)
Trance Mapt - Etching The Ether (Intakt)

Polish born, German-based alto saxophonist Angelika Niescier has already made some outstanding records but this trio outing ranks among her best. She's joined by cello phenom Tomeka Reid and up-and-coming drummer Savannah Harris on a program of seven originals. which vary from the elegant yet enigmatic to the intricately wild. Each one encourages sensational extemporized exchanges as well as top drawer soloing.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/john-sharpes-best-jazz-albums-of-2023

Beim Bungee-Jumping stürzen sich Wagemutige von einer hohen Plattform kopfüber in die Tiefe. Als Absicherung der nur wenige Sekunden dauernden Grenzerfahrung dient ein elastisches Gummiseil, dessen Länge die Sprungtie-fe bestimmt. Ein ähnlich kompromiss-los-draufgängerisches Vorgehen trifft auf Angelika Niesciers Musik zu, mit dem großen Unterschied, dass ihr Sprung nicht gebremst wird, sondern in ein turbulentes musikalisches Universum führt.
Dass die aus Polen stammende Saxofonistin zu den führenden europäischen Repräsentantinnen der improvisierten Musik zählt, die mit ihren Kompositionen und Improvisationen das zeitgenössische musikalische Geschehen bereichern, dürfte hinreichend bekannt sein. Mit furiosen Altsax-Chorussen beantwortet Niescier die mystische Warnung „Hic Svnt Dracones" (Hier sind Drachen). Die Spannung, die sich in diesem Titel schon andeutet, wird durch die gewagten Aktionen der Leaderin und ein grundierendes rhythmisches Ritual ihrer kongenialen musikalischen Weggefähr-tinnen - der Chicagoer Cellistin Tomeka Reid und der New Yorker Schlagzeugerin Savannah Harris - noch beträchtlich erhöht. Schon diese Interaktion belegt die musikalische Seelenverwandtschaft des transatlantischen Ensembles.
In „A Dance, To Never End" umkreisen die Künstlerinnen einander mit kreativen Beiträgen, die wie die Einladung zu einem futuristischen Ballett anmuten.
Unerschütterlich manifestiert Angelika Niescier mit ihrem Trio in Tracks wie „Risse" und dem hypnotischen „Mor-phoizm" eine musikalische Freiheit, die sich aus der Enge des Vertrauten gelöst hat und zu einer neuen Ausdrucksform findet.

Wat je te horen krijgt, is een werveling van klan-ken, expressievlagen, afgewisseld met verstil-ling, ademend in de sax, soms elegisch onder-steund door de cello. De
drums volgen al die ritme- en intensiteits-wisselingen moeiteloos, zichzelf integre-rend in het enorm complexe palet dat gecreëerd wordt. Dit is muziek die uiterst moeilijk te beschrijven valt. Misschien als een uiterst individuele expressie van een individuele emotie, met invloeden vanuit alle hoeken, idiosyncratisch verwerkt. Zij hebben daarbij geen remmingen, gebrui-ken alle registers en schakeringen, en drukken op die manier uit hoe getormen-teerd en duivels hun innerliike wereld er uitziet. Voer voor de liefhebbers en doorzet-ters! (MVDW)

JOHN FORDHAM
NEW RELEASES
1 Tyshawn Sorey Continuing Pi Recordings
2 Marius Neset Geyser - Live at The Royal Albert Hall BBC Proms ACT Music
3 Uriel Herman Different Eyes Ubuntu
4 Michael Blake Dance of the Mystic Bliss P&M
5 Naïssam Jalal Healing Rituals Les Couleurs du Son
6 Mette Henriette Drifting ECM
7 Sissoko/Segal/Parisien/Peirani Les Egarés
No Format! Records
8 Angelika Niescier Beyond Dragons Intakt
9 John Scofield Trio Uncle John's Band ECM
10 Emma Rawiez Chroma ACT Music

Giovani donne inventano un nuovo jazz. Con Beyond Dragons (Intakt) la sassofoni- sta Angelika Niescier, la violoncellista Tomeka Reid e la batterista Savannah Harris non suonano dell'attempato free jazz, come potrebbe pensare l'ascoltatore distratto; la libertà in cui sono immerse è diversa da quella degli anni Sessanta, i colori di mezzo secolo di (altro) jazz libertario non sono stati creati invano. Violoncello e batteria ora fanno da sezione ritmica, ora si dissolvono in un pulviscolo d'ef-fetti; sax e violoncello sanno allearsi in complessi contrappunti estemporanei; sax e batteria possono produrre strati ritmici... Tutto è le- cito, in un magma di soluzioni che ha sempre grande coerenza musicale. (Claudio Sessa)

A Grain of Sound Begets a Symphony
Polwechsel, Niescier-Reid-Harris, Dan Peter Sundland's Home Stretch, Oùat
The Power of Three with Angelika Niescier, Tomeka Reid and Savanah Harris/The Elaborate Post-Bop Constructions of Dan Peter Sundland’s Home Stretch
There seems to be no line between the high-energy personality and the fiery playing of saxophonist Angelika Niescier. Both contain tightly-coiled propulsion; a tangle of ideas that need to be communicated with passion and craftsmanship. Her alto playing is stronger than ever on Beyond Dragons (Intakt), a recent trio album made with cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Savannah Harris that both sparkles and wallops. Niescier’s energy seems contagious, as she brings out a visceral, bruising attack from her collaborators that I’ve never heard in quite the same way before. The trio first got together for a performance at Cologne Jazz Week in 2022, and they reconvened in Chicago in March of this year, when the recording was made following another performance. They perform in Berlin on Saturday, December 9 at House of Music, on a double bill with Dan Peter Sundland’s Home Stretch.
There’s no question that the musicians had already developed a strong rapport and cohesion by the time they hit the studio, because the opening piece “Hic Svnt Dracones”—Latin for “Here be Dragons,” a cartographic phrase for uncharted territory—shoots out of the gate like a racehorse. Reid takes on the bass role with nimble, fast-moving pizzicato, while Harris unleashes an equally furious groove that straddles off-kilter drive and explosive dynamism. They set up the saxophonist perfectly, who slides and slaloms across the groove with upper register lines that slash and seethe. Despite the aggression, Niescier’s tune is a marvel of steeplechase motion, with tightly interlocking alto saxophone and cello lines egging one another on and Harris holding it down even when she seems to be pummeling her snare into the ground like Rumpelstiltskin. The ease and precision of the mutual vitality can’t be faked—these three players couldn’t connect like this without some deeper sense of mutuality. Check it out below.

All three participants are excellent improvisers, but they come from different worlds and aesthetics, which onlymakes this communion more impressive. Niescier has long been a fiery presence on the Cologne scene, a player who routinely veers outside the lines of studied propriety that marks much of the town’s vaunted musical community, where great players seem to fall from trees. The education system produces remarkably versatile, skilled players, but many lose the wild sense of exploration that distinguishes Niescier. Reid has become one of the preeminent cellists in improvised music, a superb composer, bandleader, and ensemble-minded player known for close associations with folks like Nicole Mitchell, Mary Halvorson, Mike Reed, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. She taps into a frenzied state I’ve never quite heard from her previously, reflecting Chicago’s deep free jazz culture without abandoning her innate melodic sensibility. She also incorporates judicious electronic flourishes to stretch, echo, and process her lines in real-time. Finally, there’s Harris, one of the most technically dazzling drummers on the New York scene—a musician who can approach the MPC-style of Damion Reid without ever letting her insane technique upstage what any particular group is trying to do. Last summer I saw her play in a group organized by bassist Petter Eldh and her ability to inject sudden runs, displacements, and wild accents within the flow of a simmering groove, all with a beatific expression on her face, blew me away. There was no question that she had loads of power in reserve, but it’s still something to hear her unleash in a collective setting like she does on Beyond Dragons.
Niescier is credited with writing all seven tunes—although Alexander Hawkins’ liner note essay mentions two collective improvisations—and most of them thread tricky unison passages atop swaggering rhythms. Harris reveals her compositional logic and melodic heart on the extended opening to “Risse.” The trio suggests a super jacked update of Henry Threadgill’s Air, with the trio engaging in constantly evolving three-way interplay. Reid uses her bow like a weapon, flailing it across the strings of her cello like a lash, albeit one with which she’s able to retain her usual precision and grace, even within the most harrowing passages, and as usual she comps and supports her bandmates with heightened sensitivity and selflessness, and when she and Niescier go head-to-head on "Morphoizm” their bond couldn’t be clearer. “Tannhauser Gate,” one of the collective improv pieces, opens with a gutsy textural exploration; Niescier blows unpitched columns of trilled air, Reid investigates fluttering harmonics, and Harris generates frictive hydroplaning metallic tones from a single cymbal, cumulatively conjuring an abstract sound world that ...

Dass dieses transatlantische Trio nicht bereit ist, Gefangene zu machen, wird schon im Opener „Hic Svnt Dracones“ klar: Über einem von Cello (Tomeka Reid) und Drums (Savannah Harris) durchgehalten peitschenden Puls beweist Angelika Niescier, wie frau mit dem Altsaxofon ackert. Zwischen ruhigeren, klangexplorativ angelegten Stücken schieben sich solche, in denen das glänzend eingespielte Trio hitzige Improvisation mit messerscharfem Drive zu verbinden weiß. Gut so! (Intakt)

https://www.falter.at/zeitung/20231024/niescierreidharris-beyond-dragons