Pianist and composer Craig Taborn, known for his shockingly powerful technique and his ability to traverse post-modern jazz, contemporary classical music, and indie electronics, moves fluidly between structure and freedom. The six tracks on Dream Archives — four originals and two covers — are smartly conceived, finding fresh sonic angles and probing inventive approaches to rhythm. Working in a trio format with cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer/vibraphonist Ches Smith, the colorfully chameleonic Taborn adds another compelling chapter to his already rich catalogue.
“Coordinates for the Absent” oozes lyrical introspection and nocturnal delicacy, captivating through carefully traced electronics, floating vibraphone, bowed cello, and…
Tag Archive: Craig Taborn
Trio of Bloom is the first studio meeting between pianist/keyboardist Craig Taborn, guitarist Nels Cline, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. It was facilitated by producer David Breskin, who, in the mid-’80s, brought together guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Melvin Gibbs, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. All admired one another despite different approaches to jazz. That idea yielded the 1987 one-off Strange Meeting by Power Tools. Breskin has produced Decoding Society dates, several Frisell recordings, and has worked with Cline since 2010.
Set opener “Nightwhistler” was composed by Jackson, and it appropriately begins with an intensely lyrical and poetic drum solo from Gilmore. A minute in, Cline starts delivering…