Sophie Agnel, John Edwards, Steve Noble - Aqisseq (2018) Hi Res

Sophie Agnel is unrivalled when it comes to transcending the piano: she exploits its potential to the full. Together with her two accomplices John Edwards and Steve Noble, - cornerstones of the U.K.’s free scene as individuals and an exceptional rhythm section - since 2011 the ONJ-National Jazz Orchestra’s pianist Sophie Agnel has been exploring the traditional jazz trio format in a way that is immensely inventive and constantly virtuoso.

Composer Giacinto Scelsi liked to think of sound as a circle of plenitude with a thick circumference; and beyond the systems established by the various combinations of Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau or Jason Moran, there is no hierarchy that rules over the piano-bass-drums association. Alone, neither God nor Master, each instrument leads, carries, adapts, restores balance, and aligns itself with the others to the most infinite degree…

With their new recording, Agnel, Edwards and Noble pursue their quest for an ideal that transits between “old school” improvisation and an audacious renewal of form; all three flirt with genres, intensities and intentions representing a prodigious palette. Their new “live” album - following a first opus that appeared in 2013, a concert recorded at the Météo Festival in Mulhouse (Clean Feed Records) - provides ample proof if necessary.