Stephanie Bibbo

Negative Press Project + Friction Quartet: Cycles 1

by Jack Bowers
February 4, 2026

Cycles 1, the fifth recording by the San Francisco Bay-area Negative Press Project, is chamber jazz of the highest order, neatly canvassing a dozen creative and colorful themes by the group's co-leaders, pianist Ruthie Dineen (nine) and bassist Andrew Lion (three). The octet is ably supported on every number by the Friction Quartet, whose elegant strings lend an aura of courtliness without discord or intrusion. The session is marked by a deep feeling of purpose, amplified by the ...