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The trio-debut of pianist, composer and 2025 MacArthur Fellow Craig Taborn with Tomeka Reid and Ches Smith has been eagerly awaited. In its review of the group’s live show from Fall 2025 the German daily Hamburger Abendblatt found nothing put praise for their performance, calling it “unpredictable, exhilarating”. The trio’s approach on Dream Archives is full of complexities, and as the title suggests, a wide musical spectrum is covered as multitudes of idioms seem to be pulled from history and reconfigured to form a previously unheard sound world full of reveries. Dancing grooves and powerful lyrical accounts also arise in otherwise densely orchestrated trio interchanges – four extensive Taborn-originals making up the foundation.
Sometimes Craig wears his influences on his sleeve, and with the trio’s passes at Paul Motian’s “Mumbo Jumbo” and Geri Allen’s “When Kabuya Dances” two of his most important ones are paid homage to in masterful fashion. Tomeka on cello juggles with melodic lead on the one hand and a pizzicato bass bedrock on the other, coalescing – with tension – with Ches Smith’s versatile sound array and Craig’s comprehensive grasp of the keyboard. Dream Archives, recorded in New Haven in 2024, was produced by Manfred Eicher.
Details
Cat. number: ECM 2833, 880 8099
Year: 2026
Notes:
All compositions by Craig Taborn (Light Made Lighter Music, BMI)
When Kabuya Dances by Geri Allen (Antoinette Music, SESAC)
Mumbo Jumbo by Paul Motian (Yazgol Music, BMI)
Recorded January 2024
Firehouse 12, New Haven
Mixed by Cragi Taborn, Manfred Eicher,
Michael Hinreiner (engineer)
Bavaria Musikstudios, München, July 2025
An ECM Production
℗ © 2026 ECM Records GmbH, Pasinger Str. 94, D-82166 Gräfelfing [on O-card back; on tray card]
℗ © 2026 ECM Records GmbH [in booklet]
℗ 2026 ECM Records GmbH [on disc]
Printed in Germany
