In the spring of 2012, during a tour of Europe, Plimley, Guy and Niggli recorded this album at a studio session in the "Loft" in Cologne, Germany. Barry Guy and Lucas Niggli had worked together a lot in the past few years. Pianist Paul Plimley, a Canadian with Irish roots, had made himself a name as one of the founders of the New Orchestra Workshop (NOW). There Plimley came to the attention of Han Bennink, Gerry Hemingway and Barry Guy. In 2009 Lucas Niggli played with Plimley at the festival in Vancouver, and the trio with Barry Guy was born.
The album contains distillations of their "live"-performances – pieces with a sharp focus often developed out of quiet sequences. "There is a remarkable sensitivity, which truly shines in the slow numbers", writes Marc Chénard in the liner notes. "On the flip side of the coin, they can push and shove with the best of them, and there are more than a handful of those moments, too. Most importantly, though, this spirited team shows us how true freedom lay not only at the outer limits but also within them." |