 |
Susie Ibarra
(September 2005 Issue)
Tone, Time, And Tenacity A
highly regarded and ubiquitous figure on New York's fertile downtown
improvising scene, drummer Susie
Ibarra has appeared in a variety of
cutting-edge contexts over the past ten years at such alternative
venues as Tonic, The
Knitting Factory, and New York's annual
celebration of the avant-garde, The Vision Festival.
Ibarra's
highly interactive, painterly touch, rolling pulse, and melodic
penchant on the kit have graced albums by such
jazz and avant-garde
figures as John Zorn, Derek Bailey, Dave Douglas, David S. Ware,
William Parker, and Pauline Oliveros.
She has also collaborated with
fringe rockers like Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and the band Yo La
Tengo. But it is in
the context of bandleader and composer that Ibarra
reveals the full scope of her musicality.
Ibarra's 2002
release on Zorn's Tzadik label, the provocative and enchanting Songbird Suite,
introduced her working trio of pianist
Craig Taborn and violinist
Jennifer Choi. Last year she appeared in a highly charged duet
collaboration with virtuoso upright
bassist Mark Dresser on Tone Time
(Wobby Rail), which brilliantly showcased the wide palette of colors
and extended
techniques that she brings to bear on the kit.
On Ibarra's latest recording, Lakbay
(Tzadik
Composers Series), she performs a hypnotic and melodic duet
with Afro-Cuban percussionist Roberto Rodriguez on a piece
called
"Folklorico." On this cut Susie eschews the trapset for a Philippine
wooden kulintang, a tuned percussion instrument
somewhat along the
lines of marimba or baliphone. The remainder of the recording is the
dynamic ten-part suite
"Lakbay/Journey," Ibarra's tribute to a day in
the life of a Filipino immigrant field worker.
Recently
Ibarra
premiered a commissioned piece for ten-piece ensemble at The
Kitchen, a famous underground performance venue in New York
City.
"Creatively, I feel like I'm in a really good space," she says of her
recent flood of activity. To hear samples of
Ibarra's work, check out
her Web site, www.susieibarra.com.
Bill Milkowski
 Go to Artist Index
|
|
|
|
