Drummer Tom Rainey’s trio with guitarist Mary Halvorson and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock makes improvised music with an uncanny tune-like sensibility

I had listened to Hotel Grief (Intakt) several times before I noticed that leader and drummer Tom Rainey, guitarist Mary Halvorson, and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock were credited for improvising all five pieces when the recording was made live at New York’s Cornelia Street Café in April 2014. I’m still shaking my head in disbelief that it was all created on the spot.…