Borderlands Trio with Stephan Crump, Kris Davis, Eric McPherson - Wandersphere (September 17, 2021 INTAKT RECORDS)

Following the stunning debut album "Asteroida", the New York trio Borderlands with Stephan Crump, Kris Davis and Eric McPherson release a double CD with four improvisations which range in length from just under twenty to over forty minutes. Recorded during the coronavirus pandemic in New York in 2020, the music contrasts the New York mood of isolation with an uncommon passion for playing, intensity and musical intimacy.

Chicago/Berlin jazz critic Peter Margasak writes in the liner notes: “The works float, roil, swing, breathe, rush, and sparkle without every revealing any sort of hesitation or falling into a rut. The musicians don’t follow one another and they eschew glib reaction. Instead, they sit with the flowing ideas, thinking ahead about where the music could go. They play a long game with their spontaneity. These four amazing explorations reflect a kind of total music.” He writes full of enthusiasm: “The Borderlands Trio engage in four mind-boggling explorations here – patiently, generously, and almost telepathically building a unified sonic architecture that celebrates the act of collective improvisation as profoundly, as beautifully, and as completely as anything I’ve ever heard.” McPherson turned 50 on the day of the session, and calls the experience “the ultimate birthday gift.”

1. Super-Organism

2. An Invitation to Disappear

3. Old-Growth

4. Possible Futures

Stephan Crump: Acoustic Bass

Kris Davis: Piano

Eric McPherson: Drums

Music by Eric McPherson, Kris Davis, and Stephan Crump.

Recorded December 11, 2020, at The Samurai Hotel, Queens, NY,

by David Stoller. Mixed by Stephan Crump at The Butler Plaza, Brooklyn, NY. Mastered by Liberty Ellman at 4D Studios, San Francisco, CA.

Cover art and design: Jonas Schoder

Liner notes: Peter Margasak

Photos: Patrick Lambin, Jazzdor, Strasbourg, 2019

Produced by Kris Davis, Stephan Crump, Eric McPherson and Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt, Anja Illmaier, Florian Keller

Published by Intakt Records

PREORDER

Borderlands Trio - Asteroidea (INTAKT RECORDS 2017)

Borderlands Trio, the collective effort of bassist Stephan Crump, pianist Kris Davis and drummer Eric McPherson, has luck on its side. Less than a year old, its chemistry is unusually deep. And while I don’t often use the term, it’s also a band that boasts a bit of magic. 

The album title Asteroida is the Latin term for starfish – a creature that can regenerate parts of itself whenever need be. That idea resonates with Crump because of the trio’s ability to steadily develop new landscapes, and the Stephan Crump reminds that the word starfish conjures notions of both the ocean and outer space. ‘Gravity, magnetism, constellations, nature. With this band, we’re always expanding and contracting, recontextualizing what’s around us and heading for the instantly inevitable.’

Ultimately Asteroidea is a treatise on immediacy and a deep dive into the spectrum of responses made by any one gesture. Pay close attention. Its grooves are always morphing, its drama boasts moments of whimsy, and its creators are just getting started. Jim Macnie, from the liner notes

1. Borderlands 26:32

2. Carnaval Hill 2:06

3. Flockwork 7:52

4. Ochre 3:40

5. Body Waves 6:31

6. From Polliwogs 5:59

Stephan Crump: Acoustic Bass

Kris Davis: Piano

Eric McPherson: Drums

Music by Eric McPherson, Kris Davis and Stephan Crump. 

Recorded December 18, 2016, at The Samurai Hotel, Queens, NY by David Stoller. 

Mixed by Stephan Crump at The Butler Plaza, Brooklyn, NY.

Mastered by Liberty Ellman at 4D Studios, Brooklyn, NY. 

Cover art and graphic design: Jonas Schoder. Liner notes: Jim Macnie. Photo: Jimmy Katz. 

Produced by Kris Davis, Stephan Crump, Eric McPherson and Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt.

Published by Intakt Records.