reviews
sylvie Courvoisier Trio - Free Hoops
Pianist and composer Sylvie Courvoisier has established a rare degree of intuitive insight in her working trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Free Hoops, by turns prickly or percolating, carries a series of dedications to musical figures ranging from Claude Thornhill and John Zorn. It also picks up where Courvoisier left off on D'Agala, one of the more acclaimed piano trio releases of 2018. Sept. 18, Intakt.
By Nate Chinen, WBGO, September 14, 202
An outstanding follow-up to 2018's D'Agala (Intakt), pianist Courvoisier once again draws upon the rhythmically fluid tandem of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen for an album in constant motion and with subtle lyrical touches. The three musicians work together so sympathetically that it can be easy to forget just how challenging these compositions are, and how much coordinated artistry is required to bring them to life.
Troy Dostert's Best Releases Of 2020, All About Jazz, December 12, 2020
Despise the references, there’s nothing pastiche-like about Free Hoops, which positions the group as one of the most exciting piano trios at work today.
Peter Margasak , Downbeat, November 2020
Liberating and extending the possibilities of form and improvisation, Courvoisier shows off an acute, borderless inside/outside sensibility that creates a spellbinding effect. Her labyrinthine, sensuous and powerful lines sound like no one else.
Filipe Freitas, JazzTrail, Sept 16 2020
That her music is as aesthetically beautiful as it is strange and mysterious is only further testament to her prowess as a composer. That this trio plays her music as if it has been creating it from the air is nothing short of remarkable. Abaton is Courvoisier's crowning achievement thus far, and this group points her firmly forward in a direction where everything is still possible, demonstrating that there is something new under the sun in classical music and improvisation. Perhaps Abaton is the great moment of 2003 for new classical music.
Courvoisier's playing is jaw-dropping at times, and there's an extended passage that features her working both inside and on the keyboard of the piano interacting with Rainey and the others in subtle combinations, and working up to a terrifying free jazz piano freakout that could make a person faint!
Michael Anton Parker, 2005