855 - Sylvie Courvoisier Joëlle Léandre Susie Ibarra "Passaggio"

Not your conventional modern jazz-based piano trio, these highly regarded improvisers pursue circular and open-ended dialogue during this vibrant set recorded in the studio and in concert. Pianist Sylvie Courvoisier works through many of these multi-faceted frameworks via Cecil Taylor-like excursions amid rumbling lower-register dynamics and sinuous chord clusters. Bassist Joëlle Léandre and drummer Susie Ibarra are afforded equal parts soloing space, where they expound upon previously stated themes. On pieces such as "Taktlos 3" (recorded live), the trio embarks upon a crash-and-burn free jazz methodology, featuring Ibarra's tumultuous polyrhythms and Courvoisier's fragmented progressions, whereas Léandre provides the snaking bottom end with rapidly executed arco lines or complexly constructed fabrics of sound. Some of these works are introspective, where the artists' serve as colorists in combination with purposeful call-and-response-type dialogue. Nothing overtly new or groundbreaking, yet this 2002 release presents the listener with a hearty program brought to you by three superb improvisers. ~ Glenn Astarita, All Music Guide