Sopie Duner & Anthony Coleman - Messed Up Stride (Urlicht AudioVisual, 2026)

By Sammy Stein 

Sophie Duner has released albums both as a solo artist and alongside names including Gene Ptirsker, Jeremy Harman, and Dominic Duval, as well as with the Callino Quartet. Her musical style is eclectic, and while she remains rooted in jazz, her free-wheeling and versatile talent means she can switch to almost any genre.

On her album Messed Up Stride, Duner teams with pianist Anthony Coleman, a well-known avant-garde pianist who worked with John Zorn on several projects in the 1980s and 90s. He has been in groups Sephardic Tinge and Selfhaters and has been involved in many projects across the world.

The PR describes this as a ‘fearless album,’ and it is that. It was recorded at Atlantis Studios, Stockholm, the studio behind ABBA's "Waterloo," "Dancing Queen," and "Mamma Mia."

About the recording, Duner comments, “‘ Messed-Up Stride’ is the result of a musical vision I’ve had in mind for quite some time. I’m really grateful that pianist Anthony Coleman picked up on my idea for these slightly twisted, stride-inspired tunes! We certainly had fun recording them.”

Duner has worked on some of the compositions for 15 years, and in Coleman she comments, “He really sounds like an entire group. He was exactly the pianist I needed."

The music draws on Charles Mingus, Eric Mingus, George Antheil, Charles Ives, Scott Joplin, John Zorn, Fats Waller, Marc Ribot, and more. The album delivers songs that are pointed, witty, inimitable, and memorable– and nothing that you would expect given the influences. Duner and Coleman seemingly delight in taking themes, rotating them, adding snippets from familiar jazz numbers, and adding their twist. Coleman maintains a (more or less) traditional ingredient with steadfast backing, rhythmic pattern, and some really well-worked solo work, which tempers Duner, who is often off on a journey of her own – yet, despite this, she never loses the connection with what Coleman is doing in his interpretations.

‘Mad World’ is a wonderful opener and exploration of vocal techniques and range. Duner’s character shines like a laser, while her voice soars and dips in seemingly chaotic but actually thoughtful, controlled ways. The track was inspired by the Bulgarian Voices Choir and is a story of contrasts – bitter burning sweet, and chaos finding its groove. Duner’s voice is mesmerising, but couple that with rolling, thunderous, deeply textured piano from Coleman, and it is no wonder this track hits home and engages like an electric charge to the brain. There are gentle phrases too, which contrast beautifully with the tuneful, throaty rasps that Duner delivers.

In Contrast, ‘Two Rabbits on Wall Street’ is a staccato-laced, forcefully delivered number with sudden outlets of energy and rivulets of scat, all across some hearty and well-honed boogie woogie, amongst other styles, which Coleman switches in and out of in mercurial ease. This polytonal number in 9/4 was inspired by porcelain rabbits sold on Wall Street – a meditation on the illusion of money as magic. Frenetic, polytonal, and arrhythmic at times, this is a wonderful number.

‘Better Get Hit In Your Soul’ features a solo intro from Coleman before he settles into a bluesy, rhythmic pattern, across which Duner scats and muses, across Coleman’s now stride style as he pounds left-hand rhythms across the keyboard. Those rhythms are familiar, as this number is a cover of Mingus’s work. Duner studied with Eric Mingus, so no wonder the Mingus touch is there, affected so respectfully by Coleman. Dener’s voice is shown in its instrumental glory on this number.

‘Complicated Love Affair’ is aptly named for its changeable musical concepts, but what stands out is Dener’s voice – she purrs, she slides and glides, and her range is over three octaves here – from chest voice to operatic virtuosity, she delivers with aplomb across Coleman’s empathic playing.

‘Watch Your Pitch Bitch’ is a slightly deranged number delivered with tongue-in-cheek sassiness, and Coleman definitely feels the energy on this one, delivering perfectly timed counterpoint chords, while ‘Mad Monk’ is a gorgeous play on Monkish themes, that bass line working hard, over which Duner’s vocals float like a madcap whirlwind. A brilliant number.

‘I Ain't Taking Orders From No One’ is as feisty as it sounds, and Duner delivers brilliantly, while Coleman maintains a calming influence in his gentler riffs and rhythm patterns.

‘Post Traumatic Ripoff’ was inspired by the changing world we live in and the emotional costs of being taken advantage of. Duner lets rip, duetting with herself, in this strangely cathartic number.

‘Reharmonized Boyfriend’ is sharp, contrasting with softer phrases, and was inspired by the everlasting circle of relationships and going back to routine.

This album is a beautifully delivered concept and shows how two musicians from different arenas can come together to create something special. Coleman’s sense of rhythm, alongside Duner’s eclectic but somehow cohesive music-making skills, creates an engaging sense of involvement. The recording does what so many truly good recordings do, and that is, they deliver music that offers the listener layers – first it sounds chaotic, then the realisation of the way they work in contrast and also harmony hits until the deep connection between the musicians is clear.