MARY CONWAY applauds the revival of a tense, and extremely funny, study of men, money and playing cards
Saxophonist Laubrock the mother of masters' invention
Ingrid Laubrock
MEHDI ACHOUCHE explores the constant fascination of cinema with Marxist alienation from Fritz Lang and Chaplin to Bong Joon Ho
FIONA O’CONNOR steps warily through a novel that skewers many of the exposed flanks of the over-privileged
MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
Ingrid Laubrock Anti-house Four
Cafe Oto, London
THREE remarkable jazz women comprise the majority of this dynamic Brooklyn-based quartet — saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock (pictured), pianist Kris Davis and guitarist Mary Halvorson. Along with drummer Tom Rainey, this is a collective where composition matters, with each musician following the sheet music intensely as they play.
Halvorson's whining guitar notes open the set, echoing a hefty dose of the blues, before the shadowy sounds of Davis's keys join her. Then it's Rainey's turn. With teeming brushes in his left hand, his right hand pounds on his snares aa Laubrock's strident, searing soprano cuts through.
The plucked patterns from Halvorson, discomforting and haunting, uncannily recall “the twang's the thang” of the 1960s hits of pop guitarist Duane Eddy, while Laubrock's tenor saxophone erupts like the volcanic lava of Kilauea cracking through Hawaiian roads, with Rainey's powerhouse drums powerhouse and Davis's stride piano chiming beside her.
More from this author
CHRIS SEARLE wallows in an evening of high class improvised jazz, and recommends upcoming highlights in May
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to drummer Steve Noble
CHRIS SEARLE interviews saxophonist Chris Williams about the extraordinary electro-acoustic album LEDLEY - a bold fusion of Jazz, football, and community spirit
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Rwanda-born jazz vocalist INEZA
