''Refraction – Breakin' Glass'' is an album by Trio 3, a jazz group consisting of saxophonist

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American List of jazz saxophonists, jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano saxophone, soprano and flute. D ...

, bassist

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey, in addition to Alice Coltrane, Mal Waldron, Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Tri ...

and drummer

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer ...

, with guest pianist Jason Moran. It was recorded in 2012 and released by

Intakt Records Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich, Switzerland. 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. ...

.''Refraction – Breakin' Glass''
at Intakt Records

Background

In 2012, Lake, Workman, Cyrille invited Jason Moran for a week long residency in New York's Jazzclub Birdland, before they recorded this album. Moran was the third guest piano player cooperating with Trio 3 after

Irène Schweizer Irène Schweizer (2 June 1941 – 16 July 2024) was a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. Life and career Schweizer was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on 2 June 1941. She performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as ...

and

Geri Allen Geri Antoinette Allen (June 12, 1957 – June 27, 2017) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. She taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh. Early life and education Allen was born in Pontiac, Michigan ...

. Moran's composition "Refraction", first presented by the pianist on his album ''Artist in Residence'', is combined with Lake's recitation of his poem "Breakin' Glass". Cyrille's composition "High Priest" is a homage to the saxophonist

David S. Ware David Spencer Ware (November 7, 1949 – October 18, 2012) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. Biography Ware was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, and grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. While in high school he att ...

, who died in 2012.Original Liner Notes by Alexander Pierrepont

Reception

The ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' review by Alain Drouot states "At this stage of their collaboration, Lake, Workman and Cyrille can operate in telepathic ways, and Moran does a fine job at finding his place, without being a distraction."Drouot, Alain. ''Refraction – Breakin' Glass'' review. ''Down Beat'' November 13: page 58. Print. The

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

review John Sharpe notes "Part of the joy of Trio 3 lies in the way even the relatively straightforward numbers feel on the edge of falling apart in a welter of delicious dissonance and arhythmic clatter, but never quite do."Sharpe, John
''Refraction – Breakin' Glass'' review
at

Writing for

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, John Fordham commented: "Long passages on this set still involve the uninhibited Lake unleashing wild, multiphonic sounds and high-end inquisitions, or Workman scurrying through tumbling group-improv episodes with dark bowed-bass slurs. But the set is full of good tunes, too, such as the nu-funky, distantly Bad Plus-like title track, Cyrille's free-swinging Listen and the jarring, exclamatory Vamp. Moran steers everybody with ingenious hooks, and his own loose-limbed solos show how inventive he can be whether the setup is prescriptive or non-existent." In a review for

The Santa Fe New Mexican file:Santa Fe New Mexican 1868-11-24.jpg, alt=front page of a broadsheet newspaper, front page of ''The Daily New Mexican'' for 24 November 1868 ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'' or simply ''The New Mexican'' is a daily newspaper published in Sant ...

, Bill Kohlhaase wrote: "This gathering of three septuagenarians and a 30-something pianist is a measure of where free jazz has landed some 50 years after its inception... Their work here with pianist Jason Moran is the classic free-jazz blend of form and formlessness, the sound defined by strange themes, the styles of the individual musicians, and the interplay between them... For all its improvisational anarchy, this music brings shape and substance to a form of jazz that’s often thought to contain neither."

Track listing

# "Refraction – Breakin' Glass" (Jason Moran, music; Oliver Lake, lyrics) – 4:53 # "Cycle III " (Reggie Workman) – 5:49 # "Luther's Lament" (Oliver Lake) – 3:41 # "AM 2 1/2" (Andrew Cyrille) – 6:38 # "Summit Conference" (Reggie Workman) – 10:53 # "All Decks" (Oliver Lake) – 4:55 # "Listen" (Andrew Cyrille) – 4:23 # "Vamp" (Oliver Lake) – 5:09 # "Foot Under Foot" (Jason Moran) – 8:42 # "High Priest" (Andrew Cyrille) – 7:21

Personnel

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

–

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

sopranino saxophone The sopranino saxophone is the second-smallest member of the saxophone family. It is tuned in the key of E♭, and sounds an octave higher than the alto saxophone. A sopranino in F was also described in Adolphe Sax's patent, an octave above an F ...

, voice *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, voice * Jason Moran –

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Refraction Breakin Glass 2013 albums Trio 3 (free jazz trio) albums Intakt Records albums