These two high profile trios are all inventiveness, and this is reflected in the way they were formed, as much as in the music itself. There is a tangled web of connections at play between the four improvisers, through a history of past collaborations, one to one or in larger formations, some occasional, some more structural; the trios on this CD were chosen for their potential, for the not-knowing as much as the knowing, and that’s what we hear; accomplished and profoundly involved music in the making, pushed forward by an ever renewed and intense ability to connect.

Drummer and percussionist Tony Buck is best known around the world as a member of the trio The Necks, but Buck’s involvement with the international improvisation and new music community ranges from projects such as Peril with Otomo Yoshihide and Kato Hideki, to Spill with Magda Mayas and Cor Fuhler’s big band, Corkestra.

Magda Mayas has performed and collaborated with many composers and leading figures in improvisation such as Peter Evans, Annette Krebs, Phill Niblock and Christine Abdelnour. Developing a vocabulary utilizing both the inside as well as the exterior parts of the piano, using preparations and objects, she explores textural, linear and fast moving sound collage.

Burkhard Stangl (guitar, electronic devices) is a performer and composer in the field of non-idiomatic improvisation, electronica and contemporary classical music. Next to solo projects, his participations cover a vast range of groups and ensembles. He has composed for film music (Gustav Deutsch: film.ist 7-12) and can be heard on over 50 CDs.

John Butcher is a highly influential musician, operating at the cutting-edge of improvisatory practice since the 80s. His music ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and extreme acoustics. He has collaborated with hundreds of musicians, mostly involved with improvisation, including Derek Bailey, Rhodri Davies, John Edwards, Toshimaru Nakamura, Christian Marclay and Andy Moor.

Fiamme (excerpt)