³√‾ (Cube Root, the mathematical inverse of cubing a number) is the debut album of the Berlin-based trio of Japan-born pianist Rieko Okuda, known for experimental sonic practices, German trombonist Matthias Müller, who works at the intersection of improvised and contemporary music, with a focus on expanded sonic possibilities; and Australia-born drummer, percussionist, and multidisciplinary artist Samuel Hall, whose work explores the intersections of electroacoustic and acoustic music. The album was recorded at Morphine Raum in Berlin in March 2024.

The album features five free improvised pieces that exhaust the extensive and inventive usage of breathing and percussive (including inside the piano) techniques. But there are no cerebral, mathematical equations attached to the music, and all pieces feel as if they were instantly composed, with a strong sense of form, as if they branch out with their own inner momentum and sound-oriented logic.

This trio incorporates subtle references to Berlin’s experimental Echtzeitmusik scene, European schools of free jazz, reductive contemporary music, and even gamelan music, but insists on its own independent and free sonic vision. The strong-minded, articulate voices of Okuda, Müller, and Hall search for new, challenging ways to interlock their sonic palettes within exploratory yet coherent, and often spiraling, complex architectures. But the music always flows organically, balancing the distinct voices of Okuda, Müller, and Hall into multilayered, tangible, and highly vibrant equilibria, and exploring the sensibilities of time and space in ever-changing dynamics.

Eyal Hareuveni

Rieko Okuda (piano), Matthias Müller (trombone), Samuel Hall (drums)