“Classy, angular, dense, powerful, intense piano – vibrant, subtle, assiduous, lively double bass – polymorphic, metamorphosing, consistent, ethereal, unpredictable live signal processing… A great many mutating forms are imagined and set in motion, with great success as far as the listener's interest is concerned… Barely stable equilibria sit among forces of attraction and repulsion that continuously readjust themselves, gradually validating the choices of each musician as the music proceeds. It is a series of digressions which resolve themselves in and by dialogue, listening, and unexpected convergences that die away at any time, generally unexpectedly. … Inspiring one another in their quests, the musicians satisfy the listener with stellar improvisations on a fiercely bowed double bass accompanied by extra-terrestrial activity on the piano and live-signal-processing that gives >the body of one instrument to the other. … A strong incursion of the real avant-garde sublimating the practice and the risks of – and after – (more than) forty years of free improvisation. Really convincing.” – Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg - Orynx-improv’andsounds.

Valid Tractor is the collaboration between Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash and Lawrence Casserley, who first played together as a trio in 2010. While their busy schedules make more than sporadic meetings unlikely, they continue to develop a radical relationship each time they meet. One of those occasions was the recording session that led to their recently released CD on FMR, “On the Validity of Tractors”.