Agnel/Edwards/Noble

Simon Nabatov Trio
Assemblage
Fundacja Sluchaj! FSR 03/2025

Nonpareil composing and improvising in a piano trio context is expressed by two sophisticated Continental keyboardists which tie together these two sessions. Additionally, while each whose veteran bass and drum team comes from another country than the pianist, one performance focuses on pure free music, while the other is suffused with lyricism that is as sprightly as it is serious.

French pianist Sophie Agnel, who has recorded with everyone from Daunik Lazro to John Butcher, is joined on Three on a Match by two of the UK’s busiest creative musicians, bassist John Edwards and drummer Steve Noble, who have worked with everyone from Peter Brötzmann to Joe McPhee. They improvise on two brief and one over 33-minute slabs of unbridled free improv. Meanwhile Russian pianist Simon Nabatov, who has helmed sessions ranging from duos to small big bands, divides his program into 12 perceptive and peppy tracks. On hand are Americans, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Tom Rainey, who have worked with everyone from Gerry Hemingway to Ingrid Laubrock.

Vibrating the piano’s strings and manipulating the soundboard, Agnel spends a good portion of the live concert as often inside the instrument as on the keyboard. Moving from cord-strumming and  outside wood raps, backed by ratcheting bass string scrapes, irregular drum ruffs and gong resonation, she creates a dynamic introduction backed by irregular drum ruffs and below-the-bridge double bass rubs.

“Part 2” captures the heart of the matter as Agnel’s opposite end keyboard slides emphasize both gentle plinks and pedal point thickness with the repeated and nearly identical patterns often interrupted by glissandi and string reverb. Meantime Edwards’ buzzing arco stops and Noble’s sharp cymbal cracks follow a parallel line. Occasionally there are brief Edwards-Agnel duets involving elevated keyboard emphasis and low-pitched string abrasions. But her piano command is such that elsewhere she creates call-and-response between her own strings and keys from opposite edges of the keyboard. A mid-track silent interlude leads to rhythm section intensification with Noble’s door-stopper-like reverberations and chain rattles making more of a impression than Edwards’ constant string swabbing. Meantime Agnel’s processional strokes and stopped piano keys preserve the exposition until she winnows the narrative down to isolated single note stabs. Double bass string shakes and drum hand patting similarly descend until the pianist’s key slapping signal the finale. A terse encore allows a patina of swing to peek through the otherwise bumping variations from all as a final cymbal splash marks the concert end.

Without sacrificing speedy progress and energetic key pressure, starting with “Upstream “, the first of the dozen tunes that make up this assemblage, Nabatov always hints at the lyricism and groove avoided by Agnel and company. At the same time while there are interludes of scene setting and themes that could have arisen from half-remembered standards, his key clipping as well as double bass string vibrations and drum pops emphasis confirm the personal and distinct scope of the tunes and performances.

Every balladic intimation as on “Daily Sorrows” and “Naive Visitor” is cultivated with a kernel of syncopated toughness in the midst of sensitive expositions. The first tune, which sounds as if it could easily be fitted with lyrics, emphasized supple slides and stops that evolve alongside the melody. Similarly the folksy and formal projection of “Naive Visitor” is undercut with alternating turns towards ragtime-like note jumping, and two-handed keyboard smashes.

Rainey’s collection of cymbal sizzles, woody clanks and snare pitter patter is strictly oriented towards backing piano journeys from presto theme outlines, swing intensity and dramatic patterning. However Helias invests “Uncoil” with thick arco thrusts and splayed pizzicato drones.

Melding elements of swing,, stridency, softness and full keyboard swells, Nabatov plus Helias and Rainey create a notable definition of piano trio Jazz-free improvisation. With more emphasis on the last two words than the first one, Agnel, Edwards and Noble create a divergent and equally valid variation on the trio approach.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Three: 1. Part 1 (8:58) 2. Part 2 (33:12) 3. Part 3 (6:48)

Personnel: Three: Sophie Agnel (piano); John Edwards (bass) and Steve Noble (drums)

Track Listing: Assemblage: 1. Upstream 2. Cagey 3. Flat Whites 4. Plucky 5. Daily Sorrows 6. Take A Breather 7. Uncoil 8. Frisky 9. Naive Visitor 10. Grumpy 11. Hammered 12. Stretchy

Personnel: Assemblage: Simon Nabatov (piano and live electronics); Mark Helias (bass) and Tom Rainey (drums)