''Alien Huddle'' is an album by a free improvisation trio consisting of Danish saxophonist

Lotte Anker Lotte Anker (born 1958 Copenhagen) is a Danish jazz saxophonist, and composer. With pianist Marilyn Crispell, she serves as one of the co-leaders of the Copenhagen Art Ensemble. Musical career Anker studied music at the Copenhagen Univers ...

, Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and Japanese electronic artist Ikue Mori, which was recorded in 2006 and released by

Intakt Records Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich. History The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...

. It takes its title from a large wooden sculpture by

Martin Puryear Martin L. Puryear (born May 23, 1941) is an American artist known for his devotion to traditional craft. Working in wood and bronze, among other media, his reductive technique and meditative approach challenge the physical and poetic boundaries ...

. The eleven improvisations are inspired by bird songs. Courvoisier and Mori collaborated in two projects previously: Courvoisier's ''Lonelyville'' and the improvising trio Mephista with

Susie Ibarra Susie Ibarra (born Anaheim, November 15, 1970) is a contemporary composer and percussionist who has worked and recorded with jazz, classical, world, and indigenous musicians. One of SPIN's "100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music," she is kno ...

.''Alien Huddle''
at Intakt Records

Reception

In a review for '' All About Jazz'', Ted Gordon states "The most interesting creation of this particular group, besides the very clear gestures of emotion and communication, is that its roles switch constantly: in this album's textural huddle, it's the collective output that trumps the individual's contribution." ''AAJs Nic Jones wrote: "It's music worthy of deep listening, which is true of the entire program. Leaving the everyday, even as it rewards the effort of doing so, the profundity of the moment also reaches exalted status, making for music that's urgently alive even while it's shot through with contemplation." The ''Point of Departure'' review by Stuart Broomer notes that "While the trio of Anker's saxophones, Courvoisier's often prepared piano and Mori's electronics might seem unusual, the three immediately adapt certain practices that can suggest it's the most normal grouping in the world."Broomer, Stuart
''Alien Huddle'' review
at Point of Departure Stef Gijssels of ''The Free Jazz Collective'' commented: "The interactions are organic, immediate, full of surprises and wild thought jumps. Despite the similarity of approach throughout the album, each track has its own coherence and unique identity. The music is unusual, but it has an intense and highly concentrated beauty." Ken Waxman of ''Jazz Word'' wrote: "Unfolding through 11 shorter improvisations... the three women trace, stroke and caress the multiple textures that results from the properties of each instrument... the sounds on ''Alien Huddle'' ripple, wiggle and slither... most of the... CD revolves around low-frequency keyboard fantasia, choked sighs and peeps from the saxophones and crackles, growls, pulses and loops from the electronics."

Track listing

:''All compositions by Anker/Courvoisier/Mori'' # "Morning Dove" – 4:17 # "Woodpecker Peeks" – 3:58 # "Sparkling Sparrows" – 5:09 # "Night Owl" – 5:31 # "Robins Quarrel" – 3:45 # "Dancing Rooster Comp" – 4:51 # "Whistling Swan" – 4:09 # "Crow and Raven" – 1:58 # "Blackbird" – 5:15 # "Ostrich War" – 3:50 # "Great White Heron" – 4:15

Personnel

– soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax * Sylvie Courvoisier – piano * Ikue Mori – electronics

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Lotte Anker albums Intakt Records albums Sylvie Courvoisier albums