The trio debut of pianist, composer and 2025 MacArthur Fellowship awardee Craig Taborn alongside Tomeka Reid and Ches Smith was highly anticipated. In its review of the group's live performance in autumn 2025, the Hamburger Abendblatt raved that they "all belong to the spearhead of the US jazz avant-garde" and emphasized that their performance goes beyond a strict jazz context: "This is more 'new music' - unpredictable, exciting and so not at all catchy." Indeed, the trio's approach on Dream Archives is more cerebral in nature, but as the title suggests, a broad musical spectrum is covered: numerous idioms are taken from music history and reconfigured, creating a previously unheard soundscape full of reveries. Dancing grooves and powerful lyrical passages are lifted out of densely orchestrated trio interactions, with four extended Taborn pieces forming the foundation. The trio adaptations of Paul Motian's "Mumbo Jumbo" and Geri Allen's "When Kabuya Dances" are masterful tributes to two of Craig's most important role models. Tomeka on cello juggles melodic leadership on the one hand and a pizzicato bass foundation on the other, which combines - often unruly - with Ches Smith's versatile arsenal of instruments and Craig's comprehensive understanding of the keyboard. In this music, the three instrumentalists are equal and operate on a higher plane. Dream Archives, recorded in New Haven in 2024 and mixed in Munich in 2025, was produced by Manfred Eicher.