An improvised jazz album by Dan Phillips Trio with Krzysztof Pabian and Tim Daisy.

The Dan Phillips Trio brings together three seasoned improvisers—Dan Phillips on guitar, Krzysztof Pabian on double bass, and Tim Daisy on drums—in a format that emphasizes sonic clarity, real-time communication, and deeply intuitive interplay. Though compact in instrumentation, the trio creates a wide-open sound world, combining composed ideas with spontaneous development in a way that feels fluid, focused, and expansive.

Their album Sound Energy in Space reflects a shared interest in balancing structure with freedom. The pieces often begin with composed themes or motivic cells, which the group uses as springboards for improvisation. From there, the music unfolds organically, sometimes gently shifting textures, other times pushing into dynamic, high-energy interaction. The trio’s improvisational choices are grounded in listening and responsiveness, resulting in music that feels alive in the moment.

Krzysztof Pabian provides a deep, resonant bass voice that anchors the music with a sense of gravity while remaining agile and conversational. His lines often move between support and counterpoint, always in dialogue with Phillips’ harmonically adventurous guitar work and Daisy’s endlessly inventive drumming. Tim Daisy, a key figure in Chicago’s improvised music scene, brings rhythmic nuance and a wide palette of percussive color, allowing the trio to explore both free textures and time-based grooves.

Together, the Dan Phillips Trio demonstrates how a minimalist ensemble can achieve maximal expression. Their music is neither rigidly composed nor entirely free—it lives in the space between, where intention and spontaneity meet. Sound Energy in Space invites listeners into that space, offering an experience that is both grounded and exploratory, intimate and far-reaching.

Three of the pieces feature the planetary magnetic field sounds recorded by NASA’s Voyager space probe.

Although this is only the second release for this unique Trio, Krzysztof and Dan have 20 plus year relationship and he is also a member of Dan’s “Chicago Edge Ensemble” which released two critically acclaimed recordings ” Decaying Orbit” in 2017 and “Insidious Anthem” in 2018. He is also a member of the Dan Phillips Quartet. Dan, Tim and Krzysztof also released another critically acclaimed Quartet album ‘Converging Tributaries” in 2017 with Trombonist Jeb Bishop, the well known figure in the Chicago experimental/free jazz scene and has performed extensively with all members.