Olie Brice Quartet: All It Was

Bassist Olie Brice wears the title of Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside with remarkable ease. Equally adept in free improvisation and structured composition, Brice moves fluidly between extremes. His work with improvisers such as Tobias Delius and Mark Sanders on Somersaults (Two Rivers, 2015), or with Paul Dunmall on The Laughing Stone (Confront, 2023), exemplifie his outside approach. Meanwhile, his release Fire Hills (West Hill, 2022), where he composed material for both trio and octet, showcases his talents on the more structured end of the spectrum.

With his latest quartet—featuring saxophonist Rachel Musson, pianist Alexander Hawkins and drummer Will Glaser—Brice synthesizes these dual sensibilities into a richly compelling album. Each member is a familiar collaborator: Brice has recorded in duo with Musson and in ensembles with Eddie Prevost and Alex Ward; he has worked with Hawkins in trumpeter Nick Malcolm's ensembles; and Glaser is already part of the Olie Brice Trio.

The album kicks off with the Mingus-tinged "Listening Intently to Raptors." Brice's buoyant pizzicato lays the groundwork for Musson's smeared, expressive saxophone phrases, which in turn give way to Hawkins' angular, exploratory piano solo. The piece circles back to Brice's resonant, melodic bass lines, grounding the track with lyrical force. The mood shifts on "After a Break," a title that alludes to Brice's bout with writer's block. Here, the music unfolds through a series of duos: bass/saxophone and piano/drums converse in loosely structured improvisations built around Brice's thematic fragments. The pattern repeats before the full quartet reassembles in a rousing conclusion.

"Happy Song for Joni" is a concise burst of post-bop joy, with Musson's fierce tenor lines driving the tune forward. A similarly kinetic energy fuels "And We Dance on the Firm Earth," where Glaser's Latin-inflected groove anchors Musson's soaring improvisation and Hawkins' percussive keyboard flourishes.

The inside/outside dichotomy is most poignantly realized in the album's emotional centerpieces: "Mourning Mourning (For Tosh Brice)" and "A Rush of Memory Was All It Was." The former is a tribute to Brice's late father, unfolding with quiet reverence and elegiac depth. Brice's composition gently evokes the grief of personal loss while affirming the enduring power of familial connection. In contrast, "A Rush of Memory Was All It Was" is an ecstatic homage to Cecil Taylor and Jimmy Lyons—a ten-minute eruption of intense collective improvisation, showcasing the quartet's ability to generate high-voltage, emotionally charged energy music.

With this album, Olie Brice achieves a remarkable synthesis of composition and improvisation, intellect and emotion—reaffirming his place as one of the most versatile and compelling voices in contemporary creative music.