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George Dumitriu: Monk on Viola
by Karl Ackermann
In an NPR interview, avant-garde composer Volker Bertelmann--who wrote the soundtrack All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix, 2022)--talked about re-imagining music, saying: “You don't have to paint the river to express something about the river." That attitude applies to George Dumitriu's Monk on Viola, an unusually inventive reading of Thelonious Monk's work. The Romanian multi-instrumentalist and composer holds several international prizes and he has worked with Benny Golson, Ambrose Akinmusire, Michael Moore, the National Opera & Ballet Amsterdam, and ...
read moreTrio Blurb: W
by John Eyles
Trio Blurb--the combination of Maggie Nichols' voice, Mia Zabelka's violin and voice, and John Russell's guitar--first came together in 2010 at the Alpenglow II--Styria meets UK festival in London. In June 2011 they played together at The Vortex, where the guitarist hosts his long-running monthly improv music club, Mopomoso. The results of that Vortex performance were released in 2013 by the Austrian Extraplatte label. Prior to that release the trio was unnamed but when Zabelka asked for some info for ...
read moreThe Core Trio featuring Matthew Shipp: The Core Trio Live, featuring Matthew Shipp
by Karl Ackermann
What we have here is no-nonsense free improvisation where the track titles are chronologically functional but the music has a mind of its own. This is the Core Trio, who in direct opposition to that kind of pragmatic naming convention, have consistently performed and recorded as a small combo with an additional guest. Robert Boston, Steve Swell, and Tim Hagans) have each joined the “core" trio being at the heart of a quartet. For the second time, on The Core ...
read moreSequoia: Rotations
by Eyal Hareuveni
Sequoia is an international, Berlin-based double bass quartet comprised of German Meinard Kneer, active on both the Dutch and Berlin improvisation scenes and the founder of Evil Rabbit Records; Klaus Kürvers, who initiated this project, a former architect and cultural historian and another player of the Berlin improvised scene; Canadian Miles Perkin, a frequent collaborator of French pianist Benoit Delbecq, and Italian Antonio Borghini, who studied with Joëlle Léandre and Barre Phillips. The quartet explores the multiple sonic possibilities of ...
read moreAb Baars / Meinard Kneer / Bill Elgart: Give No Quarter
by Eyal Hareuveni
Dutch reeds master Ab Baars and German double bassist Meinard Kneer began to work as a duo and recorded an acclaimed album, Windfall (Evil Rabbit, 2010). While playing a gig in 2010 at the Bimhuis Club in Amsterdam, the duo hosted veteran American drummer Bill Elgart, known for his collaborations with Paul Bley and Lee Konitz, and since then the duo became a trio. Give No Quarter, the debut album of the trio, was recorded in 2012 after a European ...
read moreLotz / Kneer: U-EX(perimental)
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by Eyal Hareuveni
In 2009, Dutch flautist Mark Alban Lotz and bassist Meinrad Kneer initiated a monthly creative music series, titled U-EX(perimental), at Centraal Museum in Utrecht, presenting performances of spontaneous free improvisations. After about 120 concerts Lotz and Kneer decided to document some of these unique musical meetings in a tiny studio in Amsterdam--so tiny that there was no place for a drum set or piano. The recording features improvisation in different formats, from duets to sextet, with musicians ...
read moreKlare / Platz / Kneer / Elgart: Modern Primitive
by Dave Wayne
Steeped in various aspects of jazz tradition as much as it is on the cutting edge, the sonic territory covered by Modern Primitive is vast, to say the least. The music here, all freely improvised, has a warmth and immediacy that comes from intense, shared listening. Though there are no tunes or changes per se, that each player has an extensive background in modern jazz and other non- improvised music is quite evident. Historically, this is something that a lot ...
read moreMark Alban & Islak Kopek: Istanbul Improv Sessions May 4th
by Jerry D'Souza
Flautist Mark Alban Lotz played two concerts of improvised music with different bands of musicians in Istanbul in May 2010. Istanbul Improve Sessions, May 5th (LopLop Records, 2011) was the first to be released. The performance from the previous day, with Islak Köpek, now makes its appearance and finds Lotz playing in real time duo, trio and larger group settings. The music has been released as it was played except for some trims at the beginning and end of each, ...
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