Jon Rose

Jon Rose / Chris Abrahams / Clayton Thomas: Artery

by Glenn Astarita
November 13, 2006

Australian violinist and forward-minded improviser Jon Rose is the primary voice on this cleverly devised gala featuring his bandmates' oddball instrumentation, like the use by keyboardist Chris Abrahams (of the minimalist jazz-rock unit the Necks) of a harpsichord, forte piano and “positive organ to round out his partners' odd implementations.

This music is energetic, bizarre and exhilarating, though finesse might not be the right term here. It's more about frenetic in-your-face improvisation, catapulted by Rose's energized staccato lines and unusual ...

Jon Rose: The People's Music

by Nic Jones
December 19, 2003

The People's Music is a wild surrealist fantasy that traces a rhythmic counterpoint in sound between the playing of a musical instrument, namely the violin, and the mass production of that instrument, according to the liner notes. What we have is in fact the musical element of a multimedia piece involving an interactive video installation, and as such we're missing at least fifty percent of the overall spectacle of the production in much the same way as any soundtrack album. ...

Jon Rose: Strung

by Mark Corroto
January 1, 2002

Jon Rose, the Derek Bailey of the violin, is turning his attention to the possibilities of electronic manipulation of stringed instrument sound. A collaborator with the likes of Eugene Chadbourne, Bob Ostertag, Luc Houtkamp, Otomo Yoshihide, and Wayne Horvitz, Rose is a creative musician with plenty of humor on display.

Strung is a co-conspiracy between Rose and Steve Heather, an electronic and percussive musician. The pair assembled various string players at Amsterdam’s The Hospital in July of 2000 to act/react ...

Jon Rose: Fringe Benefits

by AAJ Staff
November 1, 2000

At a certain point, restlessness can merge into insanity. (I couldn't tell you exactly where that point is, because I'm long past it myself.) Extreme violinist Jon Rose has proven over and over again his restless desire for creative momentum. I'm not really sure where he stands with respect to sanity--but the music he makes is unique, in the most extreme sense. His recent disc The Hyperstring Project on ReR presented a definitive thesis on the integration of improvised violin ...

Jon Rose: The Hyperstring Project: New Dynamic of Rogue Counterpoint

by AAJ Staff
October 1, 2000

For Jon Rose, one violin is not enough. Two violins barely cut it. On The Hyperstring Project, Rose works with his violins, a midi bow, and independently operable footpedals driving sampled instruments. Using this setup (and some extra electronics), he becomes a one-man improvising orchestra capable of playing three or four voices at a time. No edits, no overdubs: this material is played live.

There are two ways to approach The Hyperstring Project. One is to study the intimate technical ...

Jon Rose: Fringe Benefits

by Glenn Astarita
May 1, 1999

Fringe Benefits is a compilation of recordings emanating from Jon Rose’ Australian organization baring the same name which was a promotional tool of sorts for improvised music. Rose states in the liners: “.........Over half of these tapes had deteriorated so much that they had become unplayable. I decided to make a sampler of FBR, using material from either cassette or disc (all the LP master tapes except one were sadly destroyed in a Sydney squat)”. Rose discloses that these recordings ...