The experimental, free-improvising trio Glass Triangle – American innovative electric harpist Zeena Parkins, drummer-percussionist Ryal Sawyer, and Danish alto sax player Mette Rasmussen – describes itself as «devoted to open, exploratory music shaped through close listening and collective spontaneity». 3 X 1 is the third album of this trio. Like the previous albums, the debut self-titled album and Blue and Sun-lights (Relative Pitch, 2021 and 2023), it is a studio recording from Brooklyn, this time at Trout Recording, but mixed and mastered by Jørgen Træen at Duper Studios in Bergen. The cover artwork is by Lasse Marhaug.
The studio is a perfect space for the trio’s spontaneous sonic experiments, in which resonant, shifting timbres, subtle textures, and dynamic momentum unfold in real-time. 3 X 1 offers thirteen concise and intense improvisations that highlight the opinionated, distinct voices of Glass Triangle. Parkins uses her electric harp to create otherworldly, effects-laden, jangled, atmospheric, industrial-like, and distorted sounds, often sounding like an exotic electric guitar; Rasmussen often triggers the sonic commotion as she fires urgent, rhythmic sax blows and occasionally muses on fragile, breath-like melodic lines, and extends the alto sax with preparations and bells; Sawyer’s manic drumming propels the trio’s kinetic dynamics.
Glass Triangle has established a deep sensitivity to collective sound and acts like a unit that is bigger than its parts. The trio’s deep listening, exploratory, and fluid dynamics assist in shaping the unpredictable nature of each piece, attentive to every nuance, gesture, and the enigmatic, inner logic, but not attached to any of them. Some pieces opt for abstract sonic explorations such as «Points Lines and Circled Out Phonecalls» and «Acute Sound», but most of the pieces settle on a more energetic mode, rooted in the free jazz and art rock backgrounds of these resourceful, creative improvisers.
The real surprise is a cover of late American cult singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston’s «Pow» (from More Songs of Pain, 1982), delivered by Sawyer’s vulnerable yet touching vocals, accompanied by Parkins’ psychedelic electric harp and Rasmussen’s cosmic sax. Somehow, the last words of this heartfelt song encapsulate Glass Triangle aesthetics: «Adventure in your eyes with manic surprise / Like the sun shining through the clouds».
Eyal Hareuveni
Zeena Parkins (electric harp), Mette Rasmussen (alto saxophone, voice, preparations, bells), Ryan Sawyer (drums, percussion, voice)
