Alan Niblock, John Butcher, Mark Sanders

The moment improv fans have been waiting for has arrived!  577 Records is ecstatic to debut budding Irish bass player Alan Niblock alongside legendary improv masters, saxist John Butcher and percussionist Mark Sanders).  Tectonic Plates marks their first album as a trio – and it’s a must-have! The group is a catapulting poster child for modern-day improv.  Although Niblock is new to Brooklyn’s 577 Records, Butcher and Sanders are not – and none of these talented musicians are strangers to each other.  Together, they serve a creativity-charged collection of unique instrumental voices co-piloting toward a common goal that unfolds before your very ears.  As they perform, the audience becomes a part of their creative ecosystem.  Their reactions and enthusiasm fuel the trio's innovation.

Tectonic Plates is a five-track paragon recorded live at The Black Box in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Each piece bears a name from the tectonic lexicon and sizzles with graceful unpredictability, much like our planet’s inherent movements.  The first, Mountains, rises from a valley of percussion to meet the tenor and bowed bass – a union made solid by shared pedal points and uplifted by the saxophone’s quirky sounds.  Distinctively, the double bass and percussion guide the intensity, culminating in a fundamental collective, like an orogenic event you can feel through the speakers.