The discreet legend of the New York scene, the composer, improviser and accompanist sought-after by the biggest international pop stars, Marc Ribot is one of the most inventive guitarists of his generation. Composed of excerpts from his concerts in New York's Lower East Side clubs and from his European tour, archival footage and conversations, the film explores the variety in the musical universes of this inspired virtuoso and generous committed artist.

French pianist Sophia Domancich has made the art of the trio one of the common threads in her poetic approach, creating a world of hauntingly beautiful nuances. Regularly challenging the formal expectations of this ideally equilateral triangle with new partners, this time she turns to America, inviting double bassist Mark Helias and drummer Eric McPherson to join her around the piano. Diving without restraint into the raw material of her desires in intense meditative periods suddenly bursting into irresistible power surges of strangled lyricism, Sophia Domancich, propelled by this stellar rhythm section combining flexibility and energy, creates a music of ‘chiaroscuro’, at once impulsive, cerebral and constantly inventive.

 

With his detached free-rock dandy looks, Marc Ribot has established himself on all fronts of modernity as one of the most influential guitarists of our time. Spearheading the New York downtown scene at the turn of the 80s alongside John Zorn and Arto Lindsay, as well as being an essential partner to refined and off-the-wall songwriters such as Tom Waits and Elvis Costello, Ribot has also produced a wide range of personal projects that are as seductive as they are eclectic. The Ceramic Dog power trio he has been playing with for the last 20 years, along with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Chess Smith, is a perfect illustration of this, embarking on an electric frenzy of controlled dissonance and distortion, in a kind of visceral post-punk jazz that taps into the most violent and wistful energies of our disillusioned world.