Raphael Malfliet, Todd Neufeld, Carlo Costa

Raphael Malfliet : electric bass
Todd Neufeld : guitar
Carlo Costa : drums and percussion

This international trio led by Raphael also consists of Todd Neufeld on guitar and Carlo Costa on drums and percussion. The three of them met while Raphael was in New York during the fall of 2014 looking for inspiration, discovering new music, new people and letting the city influence him and his music. After doing some sessions and recording them, they all felt there was an immediate connection both musically and personally. They performed at several venues in NY, some of them adding Michael Attïas on alto saxophone and Flin Van Hemmen on the drums.

In his compositions for this trio, Raphael combines free improvisation with through-composed music using graphic notation, symbols, and conventional notation. These influences come from Raphael's research in contemporary classical music and it's strong relation to improvisation. The music of Feldman, Stockhausen, Webern and Ligeti in particular have left a strong mark on Raphael's concept for this trio. The result is a chamber music sound where improvisation and composition are layered and an obvious distinction between both becomes ambiguous.

The trio made their first recording last November in Oktaven Audio studio in New York after an intense period of rehearsing. The record will be released in september 2016 on Ruweh Records, a New York based label founded by Todd Neufeld and Rema Hasumi.

Raphael Malfliet "Noumenon" (Ruweh Records, 2016)