Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House - Roulette of the Cradle

2015 CD release.

Anti-House is perhaps Laubrock’s most New York-centric band, comprised of herself on tenor and soprano saxophones, guitarist Mary Halvorson, pianist Kris Davis, bassist John Hébert, and drummer Tom Rainey. Bert Noglik writes in the liner notes of this third release «Roulette of the Cradle»: «Abstraction and reification, accentuation and accumulation, laid-back and pushing. The music of this quintet thrives on strong contrasts and the tension they create. The dynamic spectrum is almost taken to its limits, a lot of things are happening simultaneously.

Ingrid Laubrock calls the shots, always with an ear to the particular expressive potential and sounds of the individual musicians. Through her growing experience as a player this happens with increasing aplomb, which also accounts for the forward leap when compared to the previous recordings with the band – Anti-House (2010) and Anti-House: Strong Place (2012).

There is as much a desire for form as for opening up the playing process towards the unpredictable, the unexpected. It is especially the high quality of the musicians contributing to the unmistakable group sound of Anti-House and, at the same time, the powerful individual styles that don’t just meld together but potentiate each other, as well.