Stephane Payen / Ingrid Laubrock / Chris Tordini / Tom Rainey: All Set

All Set rekindles an alliance dating back to 2002 in London, where French saxophonist Stephane Payen and German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock first collaborated. Though they kept in touch in the meantime, this 2019 studio date represents their only encounter since. Between times Laubrock has blossomed, becoming one of the leading lights on the New York community, while Payen has consolidated his place on the French scene, working with bands such as Thôt and The Workshop. Joining them for this session are the top drawer rhythm team of Laubrock's frequent partner drummer Tom Rainey and Chris Tordini, bassist of choice for the likes of drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Matt Mitchell.

Apart from their jazz credentials, Payen and Laubrock share an interest in contemporary classical music and, as the liners explain, that's at the root of this project. While working together on an updating of Milton Babbitt's 1957 work "All Set," a through-composed serial piece for jazz instrumentation, they decided to write a series of shorter pieces for a stripped down ensemble based upon Babbitt's original 12-tone row. That backstory accounts for the astonishing cohesion of the resultant nine cuts, even though the authors alternate, although what it doesn't guarantee are the imaginative arrangements and superlative execution.

What's striking about the program, apart from its variety, is the refreshing lack of ego, which manifests in a notable lack of solos, but no dearth of intrigue. Right from the opening "Harmonization" with its slow-quick-slow dynamic, the interweaving of the two horns takes the spotlight, as Payen's alto and Laubrock's tenor indulge in a spirited game of tag, backed up in this case by a weighty arco and rumbling drums tandem. Here and throughout, Tordini and Rainey animate through a combination of loose rhythmic freedom and precise detail. The spaced-out unison figures of "The Chant" build to a peak of jostling interplay, only to gradually recede, while the loping "Banda Linda" initiates a saxophone conversation with an overlapping call and response feel.

Notwithstanding the group ethos, there are a couple of spots where the saxophonists step out. On the enigmatic "Evaporating Dew," Payen duets with Tordini, then Laubrock enjoys a skronk-filled discourse with Rainey. While on the pneumatic earthy swing of "Spriggan," Payen zigzags airily over choppy beats, before Laubrock's breathy tenor briefly echoes a tasty bass lick before inscribing a gliding drift. But although there is a formal elegance to the reeds, think Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, it comes filtered via the lens of Anthony Braxton, such that it easily stretches to the squalling multiphonic exchanges on "Knock Whack."

The foursome constitute an outfit which merits an ongoing future.