Sylvie Courvouisier, Ned Rothenberg, Nasheet Waits

Saxophonist/clarinetist Ned Rothenberg, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and drummer Nasheet Waits — three of New York City’s top improvisers for the past three decades — have convened to form Short Cuts, a collectively led trio informed by the progressive jazz tradition from Ornette to Zorn (not to mention modernist chamber music and cross-cultural approaches).

With Short Cuts, abstraction is tempered by earthiness, in the time-honored New York way. Experimental textures meet rhythmic depth, harmonic sophistication abets free-flying lyricism; this all-improvised music grooves and it sings, swerving to avoid cliché all the while. “It feels so natural to improvise with Ned and Nasheet,” Courvoisier says.

“They are such beautiful players, and they both love grooves, even in a freely improvised setting. Winds, piano, drums also make for a relatively uncommon trio, but not having a bass player gives Ned and I more room to play in the lower register, just as it gives Nasheet more freedom with his bass drum. And these guys love to take risks, like I do.”