The intrigue of listening to and following improvised music is fueled by the cooperative associations of the many players active on any given scene. In particular, the London and European Free Improvisation communities are marked by the collaborative nature of their many recurring groupings, and the affiliations that form between certain players that yield excellent improvisation settings. The Haste trio is a perfect example of this, bridging two generations of players and representing a distillation of several organizations and projects into an ideal trio with empathetic and almost telepathic skill.
Pianist Veryan Weston is the most senior member of the trio, having played in the London and Europe scenes since 1972, with a wealth of recordings and partnerships to show for it. Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock is part of a younger and extremely active generation, German born and living in London where she performs in a remarkable number of projects including Sol6, which also includes Weston and Marshall. London based Hannah Marshall, the youngest member of the trio, is an active improvising cellist already represented on 9 psi/Emanem recordings, including the Trio of Uncertainty, where she also plays with Veryan Weston; they are also both members of the London Improvisers Orchestra.
"Haste" perhaps "makes waste", but that is hardly the case here, as these well-versed and frequent collaborators display prodigious talent with reserve and consideration for group interaction. The culmination of their virtuosic playing, particularly with two instruments more often associated with compositional music, takes free improvisation into areas of profound melodic and rhythmic interaction with a lack of urgency. In Haste, the younger players complement perfectly the older garde, or perhaps vice-versa — this is fully modern improvisation, authoritative and determined, graceful and informative, confident and convincing.
The three recordings on this release were beautifully recorded live in Barcelona at the XV Festival Internacional de Improvisacion in February, 2011. "Sleeping Down Hill" starts introspectively, a dreaming discourse that slowly builds in intensity, until Laubrock's cries, Marshall's sawing and Weston's clusters accumulate as though the listener had rolled near the end of the hill and awoke to find themselves teetering in a precarious position. The sleeper is extricated with a pensive decline, as though the listener again descends into crepuscular reveries as they reach the bottom of the hill. "Leaning Up" finds Laubrock on soprano sax, a sprightly tone that darts around Marshalls ruminations and Weston's playful forays; the 23 minute improvisation inclines in diverse directions that is monumental in its cohesiveness and conviction. "Courtesy of None" is the briefest and most succinct of the three pieces, shorter than 6 minutes but taking the listener on a complex journey from opening intricate interactions to an elegant departure. Their trio work feels masterful, with no hesitation or moments of uncertainty. All three players are charged, resolute, and bring a wealth of ideas and skill to the music, with the result a resoundingly superb album.
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