Stephan Crump / Ingrid Laubrock / Cory Smythe Trio

Stephan Crump, Ingrid Laubrock and Cory Smythe—this trio consists of three highly innovative improvisers who are active on both the international and contemporary Brooklyn scenes. Memphis-bred, Grammy-nominated bassist Stephan Crump (best known for his work as Vijay Iyer's bass player) is emerging as a singular voice as a composer, with groups like Rhombal and his Rosetta Trio. Originally from Germany, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock is now a key innovator on the Brooklyn scene, including as a composer/leader with groups like Anti-House and Sleepthief. She recently topped the 2018 Downbeat Annual Critics Poll for “Rising Star-Tenor Saxophone.” Pianist Cory Smythe works actively in new, classical, and improvised music and is celebrated across genre lines, as a core member of the International Contemporary Ensemble and a Grammy-award-winner for his work with violinist Hillary Hahn. The trio released its acclaimed album Planktonic Finales on Intakt in 2017, a series of recordings that demonstrate the trio’s finesse and sensitivity in collective playing. 

Downbeat critic Brian Zimmerman said about Planktonic Finales:
"As one expects from a trio of such talented improvisers, the composite sound is one of discovery and process, of organic structures being assembled without a blueprint or fixed template. Fostering deep listening and uninhibited communication, the trio of Crump, Laubrock and Smythe seem to have synchronized around the same pulse."