Ingrid Laubrock with Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis & Nate Wooley - Contemporary Chaos Practices - Two Works for Orchestra with Soloists (2018)

Ingrid Laubrocks credentials as an ambitious, skillful composer of intricate yet visceral works for small ensembles is well established not least on the evidence of her excellent, much-admired Intakt recordings. Whether writing for conventionally constituted assemblages like her quintet Anti-House, or for a more unusual complement, like the mix of tuba, koto, electronics, and more that she convened two years ago for Serpentines, Laubrock has demonstrated a formidable capacity for writing music of intricacy, integrity, and broad appeal. The critic Steve Smith writes in the liner notes: The present recording, recorded in a studio by an ensemble of first-call freelancers led by two ideally sympathetic conductors, Eric Wubbels and Taylor Ho Bynum, provides eloquent evidence of what Laubrock has achieved. Both of her orchestral pieces Vogelfrei, with its variegated textures, animated rhythms, swooping vocals, and inexorable momentum; and Contemporary Chaos Practices, where four instantly distinguishable soloists (Mary Halvorson, Davis, Wooley, and Laubrock herself) retain their individuality while negotiating a brilliantly rendered aural landscape serve notice of an estimable composer who has something to say, and knows exactly how to say it.

Personnel: Ingrid Laubrock: soprano and tenor saxophone; Mary Halvorson: electric guitar; Kris Davis: piano; Nate Wooley: trumpet; Eric Wubbels: conductor 1; Taylor Ho Bynum: conductor 2; Greg Chudzik: bass; Pat Swoboda: bass; Nanci Belmont: bassoon; Dana Jessen: bassoon; Talia Dicker: cello; Maria Hadge: cello; Katinka Kleijn: cello; Joshua Rubin: clarinet, bass clarinet; Katie Schoepflin: clarinet, bass clarinet; Bohdan Hilash: contrabass clarinet, clarinet, bass clarinet; Michel Gentile: flutes, piccolo; Zach Sheets: flute, piccolo, bass flute; Elizabeth Fleming: french horn; John Gattis: french horn; Christa Robinson: oboe; Katie Scheele: oboe, english horn; Tim Feeney: percussion; Clara Warnaar: percussion; Jacob Garchik: trombone; Mike Lormand: trombone; Gareth Flowers: trumpet, piccolo trumpet; Dan Peck: tuba; Dominic DeStefano: viola; Hannah Levinson: viola; Miranda Sielaff: viola; Sam Bardfeld: violin; Maya Bennardo: violin; Jean Cook: violin; Erica Dicker: violin; Mark Feldman (Vogelfrei only): violin; Sarah Goldfeather (Contemporary Chaos Practices only): violin; Megan Gould: violin; Elena Moon Park: violin; Mazz Swift: violin; Roland Burks: vocalist; Tomas Cruz: vocalist; Chris DiMeglio: vocalist; Walker J Jackson: vocalist; Amirtha Kidambi: vocalist; Kyoko Kitamura: vocalist; Emilie Lesbros: vocalist; Kamala Sankaram: vocalist; Josh Sinton (Vogelfrei only): amplified contrabass clarinet.