INGRID LAUBROCK hat Charles Mackays Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds von 1841 gelesen. Ihre neue SLEEPTHIEF-Scheibe The Madness of Crowds (Intakt CD 189) bezieht sich auf seine Beschreibungen von Massenwahn und kollektiven Hysterien, von den Kreuzzügen und dem Hexenwahn bis zum Mississippi-Schwindel und der Südseeblase, Börsen crashs, bei denen 1720 ganze Vermögen sich in nichts auflösten. Wie schon Isaac Newton leidvoll feststellen musste, ist die menschliche Dummheit (insbesondere in Verbindung mit Geldgier) groß genug, dass das Geldverbrennspiel immer wieder neu aufgeführt werden kann. Nun ist Musik ja eine Madness für sich, die Wortschöpfung Beatlemania lehnte sich direkt an die Tulpenmanie 1636/37 an. Laubrocks Lösung könnte darin bestehen, rational, klar und vor allem kühl zu bleiben. Aber Harry Lachner weist in seinen Linernotes die Polarisierung von Intellektualität und Gefühl nachdrücklich zurück. Laubrocks Musik sei durchaus ein 'Risikospiel', eine 'selbstvergessene Überschreitung'. Allerdings im Imaginären, in der 'Freiheit der Imagination', in der das Individuum, genauer, drei Individuen im gegenseitigen Vertrauen, den Ausnahmezustand erklären von den Regeln der Masse und von kollektiven Mechanismen. Statt dessen - Vielsprachigkeit, methodische Insichwidersprüche, Discordia concors. Liam Noble findet in Intakts Piano-Sommer die verblüffend sten Lösungen, erstaunliche Innenklavier- und sogar Hackbrettsounds, eckig und unverbindlich gehämmerte Einwürfe, Zweifingergefinger. Tom Rainey an den Drums rumort mit Krimskrams, klatscht in die bloßen Hände, tickelt, schrillt und tätschelt links, tokt und pocht rechts und erfüllt nur unorthodoxe Vorstellungen davon, was ein Drummer zu tun hat. Bleibt die Frage, was Laubrocks gewagt nichtlineare Stücke überhaupt zusammenhält. Manchmal ist es ihr unbeirrt ruhiges Brüten inmitten geräuschhafter 'Störungen' / Verzierungen und schneller Überholmanöver. Wobei das Stop und Go und die Kollisionen von Poesie und Turbulenz, ob synchron oder unsynchron, von etwas mehr als bloßer Intuition gesteuert scheinen. Delikate Klangmalerei gipfelt in Wassergeblubber, Raineys Schläge hageln zu krumm, um sie jemals Takt zu nennen. Aber Laubrock bläst so versonnen, als wären diese Unebenheiten ideal für ihren träumerischen Singsang. Der sich unberechenbar stürmisch entfaltet, der bei 'There She Goes with Her Eyes Out' furios explodiert, aber schnell auch wieder implodiert zu gedämpfter Mundmalerei, nur um bei 'South Sea Bubble' dann doch im Tumult mitzufiebern, mit den Geistern in 'Haunted Houses' zu geistern oder mit den Buben aus dem Häuschen zu geraten. An Schlaf ist da jedenfalls nicht zu denken.
Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy, Deutschland, 70_2011


Pirmin Bossart, Kulturtipp, Schweiz, Juli/August 2011



Sleepthief is New York-based German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock's improv trio, with pianist Liam Noble and American drummer Tom Rainey. Like the group's Intakt debut in 2008, this set sounds just as inclined to a shoot-and-duck improvising approach, in which patient use of space and a willingness to drive for extended passages in low gear mix with bursts of dense and busier activity. And, now, Laubrock sounds a lot more assured. The titles of the pieces are taken from 19th-century Scottish writer Charles Mackay's study of cults and crazes – perhaps a comment on improv's anti-populist stance. The music is a wider and wilder mix than before. Laubrock's yelping lines over Rainey's battering percussion, her contrasting murmurings over damped piano strings and arrhythmic tappings, windy multiphonic sounds amid cowbell chimes and ghostly chords reveal an increasingly distinctive Sleepthief soundscape. Tulipmania, a piece of virtuosic free-jazz for Laubrock's bright and buzzy phrasing against Noble's flinty runs, is a highlight, as is the dreamy tone poem of the finale.
John Fordham, The Guardian,  July 22 2011, Great  Britain


As of "The Madness of Crowds", saxophonist Laubrock, pianist Liam Noble and drummer Tom Rainey are one of the most rewarding bands out there. They were before, but now the clarity and depth of interaction in their music is enough to deepen that assertion, and when a signature sound also comes as part of the deal then it's time for the loud applause.
Laubrock has evidently arrived at a point in her musical journey where she's more concerned with functioning as a player in a group than what might be called the customary virtuosic flights. As an improviser on tenor sax there are faint traces of Frank Lowe, stemming from an intent on fashioning new vocabularies. When she keeps the company of Noble and Rainey—both players for whom the easy option is never anything but a cop-out—the resulting music entices and intrigues in equal measure. The initial impressions of stealth and caution, on "You Never Know What's in the Next Room," give way, with close listening, to notions of something almost pastoral, especially in view of Laubrock's work.
The cryptically-titled "Hindsight Is Always 20/20" doesn't merely go to show that often nothing can be read into a title. Delicate though Noble's touch is, it's the element around which the music coalesces. Rainey proves he can be as subtle with mallets as he is elsewhere with brushes, while Laubrock is by turns unassuming and assertive, the latter without damaging the surface of the music—which, given the sparse resources, is full of tension and life.
In view of all this, the individuality of the music comes as no surprise, any more than the trio achieving it so effortlessly. Here's to the next installment.
Nic Jones, www.allaboutjazz.com, July 31 2011, USA

Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief, The Madness of Crowds (Intakt). The UK-based German saxist, who has created such exciting music in any number of bands with Mary Halvorson and Kris Davis, mixes smartly measured free improvising and dreamy tonalities on her second outing with first-rate British pianist Liam Noble and drummer Tom Rainey (her husband).
Lloyd Sachs, jazzespress.wordpress.com, USA, AUGUST 29 2011

Johannes Anders, Jazz'n'More, Zürich, September/Oktober 2011

The Wire, September 2011, Great Britain

Martin Woltersdorf, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 16. September 2011, Deutschland

Herzerfrischend kommt der zweite Sleep Thief-Silberling daher. Den Bass lässt man in dieser Formation weg, Liam Noble bespielt das ganze Klavier, ohne deshalb gleich unter die Geräuschmacher zu gehen, und Tom Rainey trommelt wie ein young lion, gibt den einzelnen Stücken eine ruppige Widerborstigkeit, die ihnen guttut. Laubrock selbst macht sich nicht durch Notenvöllerei wichtig, sondern nimmt sich meistens vom Beobachterposten aus die Freiheit, ihre Statements gelassen und ruhig abzugeben, das Gesamtgeschehen in unerschütterlicher Selbstverständlichkeit zu kommentieren. Es macht Spaß, das zu hören. Improvisationsmusik von solch heiterer Leichtigkeit, humorvoller Zurücknahme der eigenen Egoismen lenkt das Vehikel Freejazz an vielen ramponierten Fahrzeugen vorbei souverän auf die Überholspur. Da wird es bei guter Sicht wohl einige Zeit bleiben.
Ernst Mitter, Freistil Nr. 39, Herbst 2011, Österreich

De van afkomst Duitse saxofoniste Laubrock, die lange tijd verbleef in Londen, maar die metropool intussen inruilde voor New York, de meest bruisende van de moderne jazzsteden, is stilaan een vaste waarde geworden binnen the Big Apple. Ze maakt er grote sier in een scene van vooral jonge talenten, met onder meer Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis en Tyshawn Sorey, muzikanten die resoluut kiezen voor de marge en op zoek gaan naar nieuwe varianten binnen de improvisatie. Net als op het titelloze debuut van het trio Sleepthief (2008) gaat Laubrock hier een ongewone samenwerking aan met de Britse pianist Liam Noble en haar echtgenoot, de Amerikaanse meesterdrummer Tom Rainey.
Wat meteen opvalt zijn de stilistische diversiteit en eigenzinnigheid van de muziek: de negen improvisaties op 'The Madness Of Crowds' (een titel die ze haalde bij een werk van Charles Mackay over massaverschijnselen uit de negentiende eeuw, dat de weg bereidde voor de sociale psychologie) staan in het teken van de verkenning van geluiden, mogelijkheden en combinaties. Er wordt op zoek gegaan naar een taal die dan wel wortels heeft in een voorgeschiedenis, maar toch een eigen tak lijkt te willen vormen. Daarvoor wenden de drie hun aanzienlijke instrumentbeheersing aan en laten ze daar vervolgens hun verbeelding op los.
Dat leidt vanaf opener 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions' tot een warrig, nerveus en fascinerend klankenspel, waarbij pianosnaren gemanipuleerd worden om metalige resonanties voor te brengen en Rainey rotzooit met percussieve speeltjes en zijn drumkit, zonder ook maar een keer terug te vallen op traditionele speelwijzen. Het is een tegendraadse, soms provocerende aanpak die je lijkt te willen uitdagen, te dwingen om er lessen uit te trekken die er misschien niet eens zijn. Als Laubrock zich op gang trekt, maakt het trio pas echt impact. Net als Joe McPhee, wiens sound ze steeds sterker lijkt te benaderen (vooral op tenorsax dan), vindt Laubrock vooral ideeën op het spanningsveld tussen ongebruikelijke technieken en niet weg te moffelen lyriek.
Makkelijk in het gehoor liggend is dit absoluut niet, maar wie oor heeft naar experimentele muziek en vrije improvisatie, die vindt hier wel een geslaagd evenwicht tussen intuïtie en intellect, een steeds in beweging blijvende ideeënstroom die nu eens sinister klinkt ('Haunted Houses' is een gepaste songtitel) en dan weer speels-uitdagend ('Does Your Mother Know You're Out?'), bijna rechttoe rechtaan (op een weerbarstige plaat als deze gaat redelijk toegankelijke free jazz al snel wat conventioneler lijken dan het is) tot het skronkfestijn van 'There She Goes With Her Eye Out'.
Mooist van al is echter het besef dat dit werkelijk een performance van gelijkgezinden en evenwaardige bijdragen is; elk individu krijgt de kans en de mogelijkheid om tot persoonlijke expressie te komen. En toch is wat het meest bijblijft de collectieve cohesie, de gemeenschappelijke taal die aanvankelijk verbaast en de wenkbrauwen doet fronsen, maar gaandeweg enkele suggesties meegeeft om het geheel te kunnen te ontleden zonder dat het zijn fascinerende eigenheid verliest. Dat maakt van 'The Madness Of Crowds' een bijzonder intrigerende uitdaging voor (bij voorkeur) avontuurlijke luisteraars.
Guy Peters, Draai om je oren: Jazz en meer - Weblog, 1.10.11, Belgium

This is the second release for saxist Ingrid Laubrock's Sleepthief, a trio with pianist Liam Noble and drummer Tom Rainey. One way of judging improvised music is by the degree of risk involved, whether there's ever the very real possibility of things falling apart because of the chances the performers are willing to take. On that scale Sleepthief succeeds admirably.
Even on a recording of relatively short pieces (4:49 to 10:31), there are occasionally moments when you question what's going on or where it might lead. But it's just those moments of real chance that can flower into the richest work here. The trio isn't satisfied with a single mood or an easy coherence, offering moments when you'll wonder who's producing a sound and just how they're doing it, whether Rainey is reducing himself to hand noises or Laubrock has substituted a trombone mouthpiece on her tenor ("Does Your Mother Know You're Out?"). The opening "Extraordinary Popular Delusions" has instants when the group suddenly pivots and sets off in new directions, ultimately moving far afield from Noble's initial koto- like pickings inside the piano.
Occasionally there's even a kind of willful violence afoot: at the outset of "There She Goes with her Eye Out", Rainey randomly thrashes his drums while Laubrock seems to seek every honk, squeal and whistle her tenor might emit, before a kind of entropy sets in and a sparse, almost desiccated series of quiescent gestures follows, Noble's struck piano strings suggesting a slightly discordant lullaby. "South Sea Bubble" creates controlled tension that suddenly heightens to a short concluding squeal. In contrast there's the reverse movement of "Hindsight Is Always 20/20", in which Laubrock's lyric and elusive soprano line proceeds with Noble's spontaneous harmonies a nanosecond away. Never merely reassuring, Sleepthief is as bracing as it is genuinely spontaneous.
Stuart Broomer, THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD, October 2011, USA

Martin Schuster, Concerto, Oktober/November 2011, Österreich

Portrait über Ingrid Laubrock, Christoph Wagner, Jazzpodium, November 2011, Deutschland

Titel von Album und erstem Track verweisen auf das 1841er Buch vom ollen Mackay, der ja damals – wenn auch ziemlich übertrieben, aber nur so wird's halt deutlich – u.a. auf Blasen in der Weltwirtschaft verwies (siehe auch den Albumtrack ‚Tulipmania'). Das mal als launigen Subtext; ansonsten führt das Trio der Saxofonistin auf dem zweitem Album nach dem 2008er Debut dort bereits präzisierte Fertigkeiten wie expressionistischen Surrealismus, schmutzig kanalisierte Vitalität und die Dialektik von Balance und Unbalance im improvisierten Jazz, die dort halt nur ein Trio wirklich hinbekommen kann, eng und gestaltet sie ohne Rücksicht auf einmal erlangte Formensprachen radikal neu. Dass Liam Nobles Piano seine potenzielle Melodiehaftigkeit stringent verweigert und explizit auf Geräuschhaftigkeit und Rhythmisierung setzt, trägt genauso wie Tom Raineys akzentuierende Drums sehr zum Puls dieser sehr traditionell außergewöhnlichen Musik bei.
Made my day by Honker, Terz, November 2011, Deutschland

Jan Granlie, Jazznytt, Norway, Autumn 2011

Ken Vos, Jazzism, November/December 2011, Nederlande

Masse als Addition gefundener, verarbeiteter und später archivierter Einzeltöne? Oder Masse als Ansammlung sich fremd gegenüberstehender Kreaturen, die, im Stapelverfahren aufein ander geschichtet, durch ihre Anonymität im Puzzle des Ganzen als Individuen wahrgenommen werden wollen? Man kann beide Positionen in der Musik von Ingrid Laubrock finden, ohne dicke Bücher wälzen und sich für einen der Pole entscheiden zu müs sen, ohne zu hinterfragen, ob Masse gegen Klasse spricht oder ob durch gegenseitige Befruchtung die (Ton-) Masse die Klasse ermöglicht. «Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief» spielt mit diesen Positionen, bezieht dort Stellung, wo die Improvisation Markierungspunkte setzen soll, entzieht sich da, wo die Dissonanz die Hauptrolle besetzt, der Vereinnahmung durch harmonische Praktiken.
Wenn eine schlecht geölte Türe geöffnet wird, ertönen kratzende Geräusche. In den Zwischenpartien des ersten Titels Extraordinary Popular Delusions setzt In grid Laubrock nadelstichartig kleine Unebenheiten, die eine entfesselte Klaviersequenz Liam Nobles einleiten. Dann wird es dem Schlagzeuger Tom Rainey zu bunt: er prescht zwischen die Clustertöne, ebnet die Asymmetrien und schafft so den Raum, den Ingrid Laubrock im folgenden Yo Never Know What's In The Next Room füllt. Dieser Titel verspricht nichts Gutes, jedenfalls baut sich im Namen des Stücks eine bedrohliche Haltung auf, die unmittelbar diverse Abwehrmechanismen einschaltet. Hier erheben sich Einzeltöne aus der Masse heraus, dezent blubbernder Wasserstrahl begegnet den jammernden Klängen des Saxofons. Das Verrückte, das Wahnsinnige der Massen reduziert das Trio an dieser Stelle auf eine Handvoll Tonereignisse von effizienter Durchdringung. Dagegen scheinen There She Goes With Her Eyes Out und Tulipmania den Protagonisten regelrecht zu entgleiten, weil die Masse wie irrsinnig interpretierte Freejazz-Passagen den Sound allumfassend dominiert.
Die Divergenz zwischen Rumor und Sanftheit zeigt sich in Haunted Houses, in dem die Klanggröße mit zunehmender Zeitdauer an Masse gewinnt, zwischendurch jedoch immer auch Raum ist, die Stille und ihre Entwicklung zum Geräusch zu zeichnen. Nach dem ersten Sleepthief-Album von 2008 gilt auch hier: Improvisation ist ein lebenswichtiger Zustand des Jazz und einer Saxofonistin, die dem Klang und seinen Momenten großartige Gestaltungselemente verdankt.
Ingrid Laubrock, die seit 1989 in Großbritannien lebt und unter anderem mit Billy Cobham, Stan Sulzmann, Django Bates' «Human Chain», Lol Coxhill und «Souxie And The Banshees» gearbeitet hat, weckt schlafende Diebe, deren einzige kriminelle Tat darin besteht, nicht nur feinste, sondern auch schräge, zerhackte und widerborstige Klänge gestohlen zu ha ben. Sleepthief ruht aufbrausend und ebenso sanft in einem Massenmeer aus kalkuliert erzeugtem Tonmaterial, dem weder die Spannung fehlt noch die Gelassenheit.
Musikalische Wertung: 5
Technische Wertung: 4
Repertoirewert: 4
Booklet: 4
Gesamtwertung: 4
Klaus Hübner, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, Deutschland, 06/2011

Ulfert Goeman, Jazzpodium, Deutschland, Dezember 2011/Januar 2012

Gran trabajo de la saxofonista Ingrid Laubrock al frente de su proyecto Sleepthief. En él le acompañan el pianista británico Liam Noble y el baterista Tom Rainey. The Madness of Crowds, segunda grabación del grupo en el sello suizo Intakt Records, es un disco lleno de equilibrios extraños. De temas en los que se intercalan violencia y lirismo, calma y nerviosismo, todo ello desarrollado con mucho espacio, sin prisas, con una pasmosa tranquilidad. Grabación que gana enteros escucha a escucha, sirve para colocar nuevamente a Ingrid Laubrock entre lo más interesante del año.

Pachi Tapiz, tomajazz, Spain, 2011

It sounds strange to say this – especially when a non-musician is considering the work of an artist who's been active for a number of years – but German-born saxophonist and improvising composer Ingrid Laubrock really is coming into her own. October saw Laubrock performing the Falling River Music with Anthony Braxton, whose breathy, cutting fragility makes an excellent foil for her tenor, which transliterates Archie Shepp's coiled velvet into tonal-spatial research. Aside from stretching the tenor's boundaries with mutes and inserted objects, on soprano she has a golden plaintiveness that brings to mind Steve Lacy and Marion Brown. Though she's worked with a number of bands around New York and in her previous home base of London, Sleepthief (which also includes pianist Liam Noble and drummer Tom Rainey) might be among the most compelling. The Madness of Crowds is the trio's second disc and finds them working through nine stunning, continually-shifting and rigorous explorations.

Continuing the reference of the disc's title to economist Charles Mackay, the opening "Extraordinary Popular Delusions" (not to be confused with the Chicago free music quartet of the same name) begins with a mixture of piano strings, zither (Laubrock) and cymbals. Whittling scrapes, strums and muted insistence are supported by Rainey's delicate architecture and precise tom rhythms, keyboard flourishes an arching dusk for Laubrock's phrases, which turn Charlie Rouse into parsed caterwaul. Following an ending swatch of percussive vulcanism, "You Never Know What's In the Next Room" flutters tersely as Laubrock's tendrils carve balladic space against a dangerous harmonic seam. Beautiful, ringing near-romantic progressions fall back into the murk, parlor phrases snake out of bubbles and chatter, beats and lilting melody in a haze of undisclosed gurgle. Laubrock's soprano is given the spotlight on "The Slow Poisoners" – growling yet pure, warm trills caught in an updraft from piano and brushes.

A kaleidoscope of harried angles isn't out of her vocabulary, evidenced by "There She Goes with Her Eye Out," which starts in a haranguing volley-trade with Rainey's drums as Noble's occasional creeping blocks of commentary outline shivs of gauze. "Haunted Houses" finds Laubrock's snapped shouts rattling drum heads and piano guts with terse vibrations, before shifting into the purrs and crackle of "Does Your Mother Know You're Out?" The latter explores a range of chirps, wheezes, gulps and whistles that nevertheless contain an incredible amount of energy, tiny explosions that produce enough tension to open throttle with, Rainey galloping along with Noble's swirled turnarounds and Laubrock's conch-like muted call. The trio references boppish phrasing in brief snatches before a lush, overlapping finale. Sleepthief is clearly a special trio that has grown by the experience not only of playing together, but the contrasting advances that each player has made independently. The group reveals an expanded language awash in pure sound as much as it values Monk, minimalism, and orchestrated explosiveness. While Laubrock is busy finding new improvisational paths, it will help her (as it would any improviser) to have a home base that is regularly refined.
Clifford Allen, NI Kantu, USA, December 2012

Se non lo conoscete ancora appuntatevi il nome di Ingrid Laubrock. La sassofonista, compositrice, band leader tedesca trasferitasi in Inghilterra nell'ormai lontano 1989 e assidua frequentatrice della scena newyorchese, non sbaglia un colpo. Ogni album che licenzia mostra l'ennesima sfaccettatura della sua proteiforme visione musicale e si presenta con le sembianze di un piccolo gioiello. Non è più una ragazzina Ingrid Laubrock, ma della giovane età conserva freschezza d'idee e curiosità. Nella band denominata Sleepthief si avvale di due superbi compagni di viaggio che rispondono al nome di Liam Noble al pianoforte e Tom Rainey alla batteria. I tre si intendono a meraviglia, sul piano dell'interplay, naturalmente, e nella visione istantanea e prospettica del concetto di improvvisazione.
In questo The Madness of Crowds pubblicato due anni dopo l'omonimo primo disco, i tre si aggirano sornioni tra accidenti, riverberi, risonanze e dissonanze mantenendo un aplomb britannico (Noble è esponente di spicco di quella scena impro) che non di rado cova sotto le ceneri fitte trame ricche di tensione e potenzialmente esplosive. Al trio non interessa esibirsi, mostrarsi nelle proprie abilità, proporsi come ideale interprete di un processo definito e compiuto. Piuttosto svela lentamente e faticosamente (è quasi palpabile lo sforzo fisico e intellettuale) un processo creativo che si aggrappa con forza e fede incrollabile ad impulsi dall'oscura provenienza, ad attimi fuggenti, a pensieri fugaci, nel tentativo di coglierne il significato, di (ri)condurli verso una sorta di cosmica armonia.
Laubrock ha un controllo formidabile sui sassofoni e sulle loro dinamiche; cosìcché la circolazione delle idee, la possibilità di combinarle in mille modi diversi, di trasformare i momenti più radicali ed estremi in qualcosa di evanescente ma anche di formalmente compiuto avviene senza strappi, in modo leggero e del tutto naturale. Rainey, con la solita maestria, fornisce l'ennesimo saggio di come la batteria possa essere laboratorio di idee stimolanti e sorprendenti al servizio della musica: sensibilità, delicatezza, inventiva, ricerca sono dispensate a piene mani dal batterista di Santa Barbara. Noble, dal canto suo, fa parte di quella schiera di pianisti maestri nell'arte dell'allusione piuttosto che dell'enfasi narrativa. Accordi spiritati, cluster improvvisi, bolle melodiche appena percettibili abbinate a raffinatezza di tocco nobilitano un'incisione altamente raccomandabile.
Valutazione: 4 stelle
Vincenzo Roggero, italia.allaboutjazz.com, 26-05-2011, Italy

It took me a couple spins to warm up to Ingrid Laubrock's Sleeptheif's latest offering "The Madness of Crowds". At first the minimalist grooves on the opening "Extraordinary Popular Delusions" didn't quite click. However, I think it was because I was trying too hard. I was listening and trying to make up words about the music, I was not letting the music just speak for itself. So, I'm glad I finally relaxed and listened.
The album does start quietly, prepared piano's arpeggiated riffs ricochet off percussive clatters. Laubrock's sax comes in at opportune times, leaving a trail of notes and scattered phrases. By the second tune the phrases are longer and more cohesive and the group's sound begins to coalesce. It is still quiet, with the pianist often stroking the strings inside the piano and the drums applying accents and textures.
At some point, the sounds becomes denser, with the piano playing more lush chords below the saxophones thick melodies. The sonic density increases as the songs progress, Laubrocks' rich tone intertwines with Liam Noble's piano, while Tom Rainey's drums prod and punctuate. By the tunes "Does Your Mother Know You're Out?" and "Tulipmania" things are in full swing and it's a clattering affair, awash with energy.
Luckily for those of us with downloaded versions, Harry Lachner's liner notes for the album are generously provided by Intakt Records (I really wish all the labels did this). Here is where I learned that the song titles as well as the album's title are drawn from the book "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds." From a review on Amazon we get a little insight into the material: "Charles Mackay's highly recommended 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds' was first published in 1841 and studies the psychology of crowds and mass mania throughout history. Mackay included accounts of classic scams, grand-scale madness, and deceptions. Some of these include the Mississippi scheme that swept France in 1720, the South Sea bubble that ruined thousands in England at the same time, and the tulip mania of Holland when fortunes were made and lost on single tulip bulbs."
Seems like pretty intriguing material and perhaps a helpful guide to our own interesting times. Laubrock's previous Sleepthief album received an review on the site a few years ago, and I think that this new album certainly corroborates the enthusiasm that was expressed then. This excellent group's interplay is intriguing and interesting. I'm glad I took the time to really listen. ****
Paul Acquaro, freejazz-stef.blogspot.com, DECEMBER 20, 2011

Antonio Terzo, Jazz Colours, Italy, Winter/Spring 2012

Ah, the joys of free improvisation, the hated music as it has been dubbed at times. It was a music that has been (sometimes justifiably) criticized for its over- reliance on screaming, braying intensity at the expense of group detail and communication. At the dawn of this century, the art of free improv seemed to be in a parlous state. It seemed to be getting painted into a corner with the rise of electro-acoustic improvisation's dictatorial emphasis on purely undemonstrative sound creating a music that, frequently just sat there doing nothing. But these things always go in cycles. It seems as if a number of the people currently working in the free improvisa- tion idiom have incorporated many of the appealing subtle ideas of electro-acoustic improv (even those groups whose instruments are purely acoustic-based) and created a stronger more all encompassing music.

The Madness Of Crowds is saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock's second album with her band, Sleepthief.
While the self-titled first announced a new group of substance operating in the free jazz sphere, this latest confirms what the first only hinted at. This is a remarkable assemblage of three musicians. All three understand subtlety and understatement is one of the most attractive elements of this group. Rainey's drumwork can be discrete, percolating beneath the surface but when the music accelerates and rises in volume, he amps up his force and pushes the music to a remarkable intensity. Listen to his scattershot drumming during the duet with Laubrock on the opening part of "There She Goes With Her Eye Out" for confirmation. Yet, it's when the music is at its quietest that he really comes to the fore with the slightest brush of a cymbal or the quiet patter of his fingers on the drums. Britisher Liam Noble is an inside/ outside of the piano style of player. He's lyrical with a strong harmonic pallette and his occasional preparing of the instrument expands the textural reach of this music. There's a Monkian shadow over what he does and it fits in nicely as well. Laubrock's saxophones have plenty to work with. Her tenor work particularly has broadened in scope. She floats along, essaying a line, pulling the listener in with its contour and flow, then will suddenly surprise with a flurry of notes or upper register shouts. She seems to be mindful of the old dictum "jazz is the element of surprise". The entire trio seems to be operating on this principle and therein lies the success of The Madness Of Crowds. And that makes it one of the best free jazz albums that have been released recently.
Stuart Kremsky, Cadence, USA, Jan-Feb-March 2012

Best of 2011 List (Il 2011 in rassegna), italia.allaboutjazz.com, January 16, 2012

KÜNSTLER DES JAHRES 2011
In ihrer Wahlheimat England und in New York ist die 42-jährige Saxofonistin Ingrid Laubrock eine herausragende Gestalt der Free-Music-Szene. Improvisation als extemporiertes, subtile Strukturen generierendes Komponieren ist bei ihr nicht wohlfeiler Slogan, sondern beglückende Wirklichkeit. Der SWR hat ihr das Baden-Badener NewJazz Meeting 2011 gewidmet, und in Moers ist sie heuer Improviser in Residence.
Thomas Fitterling, www.rondomagazin.de/lorbeerundzitronen, Deutschland

Mit ihrem Trio Sleepthief hat die 42-jährige Saxofonistin Ingrid Laubrock eine ideale Besetzung gefunden. Neben ihr selbst spielen der Pianist Liam Noble aus ihrer langjährigen Wahlheimat England und der Schlagzeuger Tom Rainey aus New York. Der begnadete Klangrhythmiker und Klangmelodiker Rainey und der intime Kenner des modernen und avantgardistischen Jazzklaviers Liam Noble haben wiederholt miteinander zusammengearbeitet. Ingrid Laubrock schließlich ist auf dem Tenorsaxofon und Sopraninstrument nichts fremd, stets aber stellt sie dieses Wissen in den Dienst einer klaren Motivik. Mit Tom Rainey ist sie verheiratet – beste Voraussetzungen also für eine Musik, die risikobereit auf freie Improvisation ohne Leitplanken voraus festgelegter Elemente setzt. Dieser Free-Ansatz allein ist keine Tugend, wie die Jazzrezeption schmerzlich aus manchen Erfahrungen mit radikal alle Strukturen negierenden, frei-spielenden Spontanimprovisationskomponisten weiß.
Das Sleepthief-Trio jedoch ist gerade mit den Mitteln des Free Jazz ein radikaler Gegenentwurf zum Kaputtspiel-Gestus. Hier ist Improvisation tatsächlich extemporiertes, subtile Strukturen generierendes Komponieren. In jedem der neun Stücke dieser CD wird Musik in ihrem Entstehungsprozess erfahrbar. Analog zum chemischen Paradigma ringförmig wechselnder Valenzen, interagiert jeder mit jedem – und das mit einer fast asketisch konzentrierten Kultur des Zuhörens. Statt Powerplay-Einheitsbrei entstehen so abgründig abwechslungsreiche, beglückende Miniaturen. Thomas Fitterling, 18.02.2012, www.rondomagazin.de

Oggetto sonante non (agevolmente) identificabile è quello che circolerà nelle orbite del nostro CD-player (improbabili e inortodosse sarebbero più amorfe fruizioni) nelle introduttive e inusuali forme dello zither, quindi del piano preparato ed eviscerato di Liam Noble, via via fiancheggiato dalle membrane più vitree della batteria di Tom Rainey, dispiegandosi quindi le acidule e guizzanti le note di tenore di Ingrid Laubrock, facendo così acquisire crescente forza e concretezza all'elaborato e "thriller" brano introduttivo Extraordinary Popular Delusions; ancora, gioco rumoristico-effettistico in acustica pura per frattaglie e parti non-organiche di batteria e pianoforte, fungenti da spigoloso vassoio per il sassofono, in questo caso assai più grave e disteso, nella decisamente notturna e libera You never know what's in the next room.
Torna insomma Sleepthief, il suggestivo trio capitanato in rosa dai tasti di Ingrid Laubrock, Saxophon-Spielerin migrata dalla Germania negli anni della formazione a Londra, ove fece un fulminante apprendistato quale musicista di strada, per divenire in breve tempo (non di poca rilevanza l'influsso personale di Dave Liebman) tra gli animatori del F-IRE Collective e del nonetto free Nein (non mancando istruttive frequentazioni maintream, pop e fusion) e adesso una delle più visibili e sempre più operose esponenti dell'avant-jazz ma più in generale di un variamente attivo e altamente presente free di aggiornata concezione, cui devolve adesione genuina e spontanea.
"Già a dodici anni ascoltavo, da un'enorme radio a valvole regalatami dal nonno, della stranissima roba free, per lo più tedesca o est-europea: non pensavo a quello in termini di musica - ma mi portava lontano. Scoprire quanto io ami l'improvvisazione è stata una rivelazione di questi ultimi anni, aiutata in ciò dal discutere e suonare da musicisti con cui in molti casi tuttora suono".
Non è tipo da rimirarsi allo specchio, Ingrid, benché di fattezze nient'affatto spiacevoli: l'iperattiva tenorista e sopranista, tra le due sponde dell'Atlantico (prevalentemente tra la scena newyorkese e quella londinese), è animatrice e parte integrante, oltre che del presente trio ad ella intitolato, del collettivo Anti-House (ancora col consorte Tom Rainey, oltre alla chitarrista Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis e John Hébert), del Tom Rainey trio, del Mary Halvorson septet, di Paradoxical Frog (in trio con Tyshawn Sorey e Kris Davis) e dei collettivi Sol 6 e Catacumbo, un ottetto free coinvolgente oltre a partner abituali una seconda metà britannica, oltre al quartetto attualmente in tour con Mat Maneri.
Assai sensibile alla diffusione mediatica (ed in questa occasione, graziosamente partecipe quale "estemporanea consulente" alla stesura di tale recensione), la giovane sassofonista evidentemente molto coinvolta nella schiera degli esponenti più responsabili e colti tra i suoi omologhi, ha non troppo curiosamente preso spunto nella gestazione di questo lavoro da un classico trattato di socio-economia di Charles Mackay, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of the Crowds", che non è stato utile soltanto nel trarre titolo e brano d'apertura, ma che nel suo trattare la "naturale paura del contatto con l'Ignoto", della "naturale tendenza delle masse verso il panico" e dei "suoni che preannunciano la catastrofe" ha fornito, intuitivamente, materiali di preliminare meditazione.
Album che alterna e lascia convivere tensioni ed energie estreme da free indignato e argentee preziosità d'istantaneità creativa, procedendo ora su assetti più ritmati e "marziali" (South Sea Bubble) o pulviscolari "assenze e vuoti" drasticamente orientati verso la facies più silente e destrutturata della musica (Haunted Houses), e di esso Laubrock ci ha comunque sottolineato l'assenza di "direzione musicale in questa musica.
Tutto è totalmente improvvisato e l'unica cosa prestabilita è stata quando ho voluto suonare un brano minimalista impiegando diversi rullanti e due rudimentali zither. In questi ultimi anni abbiamo suonato tantissimo insieme ma anche continuato a crescere indipendentemente, cosicché vi è sempre un qualche elemento di sorpresa" in tale partnership così sperimentata, ma evidentemente anche così tanto istintiva.
Se Ingrid non si rimira allo specchio, è certo che nemmeno Intakt Records dorme, e non da ora continua ad arricchirsi un catalogo di qualità da parte dell'etichetta elvetica, che attualmente riunisce grandi esponenti di tre generazioni del jazz fertimente e in varia combinazione attivi quali sempre più forti nomi del pianeta musicale.
Romualdo Del Noce, www.jazzconvention.net, 30 Marzo 2012, Italy

Interview mit Ingrid Laubrock, Klaus Hübner, Jazzpodium, April 2012, Deutschland