Jazz Articles about Stephan Crump

About Stephan Crump

Album Review

Joel Harrison &. Anthony Pirog: The Great Mirage

Read "The Great Mirage" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
March 5, 2023

The gritty, jammy sonics of the leadoff title track quickly convince the listener that avant guitarists Joel Harrison and Anthony Pirog are hellbent on getting it all out of their systems on The Great Mirage. Bassist Stephan Crump, who lays down his acoustic bass and goes electric, and daredevil drummer Allison Miller, who has absolutely no problem going from zero-to-eternity and cymbal splash to pure bash, sign on and hell breaks loose: witness the obstinate, speed-rock take on ...

Album Review

Cory Smythe: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Read "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 31, 2023

The startling molten sounds which open pianist Cory Smythe's Smoke Gets In Your Eyes signal that this will be no ordinary journey. On the first four cuts he draws on a stellar 11-strong squad which matches leading cutting edge figures such as saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, trumpeter Peter Evans and cellist Tomeka Reid, with colleagues from the International Contemporary Ensemble, hailed as America's foremost new-music group by The New Yorker, such as violinist Josh Modney and sadly deceased saxophonist Ryan Muncy, ...

Album Review

Stephan Crump: Rocket Love

Read "Rocket Love" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
April 8, 2022

One of the most versatile bassists of his generation, Stephan Crump has proven repeatedly that he can do pretty much anything on his instrument. He can lock down some ferocious grooves with Vijay Iyer as a part of the pianist's trio on Accelerando (ACT, 2012) and Break Stuff (ECM, 2015). But he's no stranger to free improvisation either, most notably as a member of the supremely empathetic Borderlands Trio with Kris Davis and Eric McPherson; their double-CD release, Wandersphere (Intakt) ...

Album Review

Borderlands Trio: Wandersphere

Read "Wandersphere" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
November 20, 2021

Like a billionaire with money to burn, the Borderlands Trio frequently launch into space, and hit the jackpot in doing so. On this double disc set, the threesome—comprising bassist Stephan Crump, pianist Kris Davis and drummer Eric McPherson—luxuriate in the wide open vistas of four expansive improvisations of between nineteen and forty-two minutes. The decision to play and present entire pieces rather than excerpts, as they did on some of the shorter numbers on their debut Asteroidea (Intakt, 2017), pays ...

Radio & Podcasts

Borderlands Trio, Amir ElSaffar & Michael Attias

by Maurice Hogue
October 13, 2021

This episode is packed with music from several new releases. Stephan Crump's Borderlands Trio leads things off with a track from Wandersphere's set of riveting extended songs. Then come tunes from William Parker, a pair of bands from Poland—Kwasny Desczc and saxophonist Michal Bak's Quartetto, Canadian bassist Nick Adema, Chilean saxophonist now living in France—Diego Manuschevich, bassist André Carvalho, and saxophonist Michael Attias with a killer group from Buenos Aires. Lots of other great stuff as well. Enjoy!

Album Review

Stephan Crump: Wandersphere

Read "Wandersphere" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
September 24, 2021

Let's play a game. Call it “Is it improvised or composed?" Today's contestants are the Borderlands Trio, comprised of bassist Stephan Crump, pianist Kris Davis, and drummer Eric McPherson. Their release Wandersphere, recorded in December, 2020, consists of four tracks on two CDs. Four lengthy tracks, the shortest nearly twenty minutes and the longest at forty-one minutes plus. The game is, of course, rigged because listeners of the trio's previous release Asteroidea (Intakt, 2017) will know all the music is ...

Album Review

Borderlands Trio: Stephan Crump / Kris Davis / Eric McPherson: Wandersphere

Read "Wandersphere" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 22, 2021

It begins so quietly, whispering out of silence like a ghost. The creaking door of Stephan Crump's arco bass, the hiss of Eric McPherson's brushes, the parsimonious delicacy of Kris Davis' piano notes. This is what opens Disc one of this two CD outing by the Borderlands Trio. The tune's following half hour's worth of improvisational expressionism--an exercise in filling the vacuum with free flowing musical ideas--gathers momentum, like an incoming storm, or maybe a colony of microscopic organisms reaching ...