JON ROSE, MEINRAD KNEER & RICHARD BARRETT – Colophony – CD – CS229CD

Also a trio, recorded in Berlin, and also with international players, is the release by Jon Rose (violin, tenor violin), Meinrad Kneer (double bass) and Richard Barrett (electronics). I have a soft spot for Rose, every since he showed up in my radio program – way, way back – and took over the show with record spinning and voices. Must have been twenty-five years ago. At least. Here, this trio is in fine form, and lumped in with the new release by Schraum, as it covers pretty much similar ground. Of course here too we have improvised music, and perhaps a bit from a conventional point of view. The string instruments, especially the violins of Jon Rose sound like… well… like violins. Points of abstraction are mainly from Barrett and lesser from Kneer I’d say. Here too we have highly skilled improvisers at work, which know how to listen to each other, and interact in a fine way with each other. Like the other this one moves from the very loud to the very sparse, all in the course of one hour. from a wide macro shot to the telescopic detailed sounds on a tiny level. Like the other release, not something you haven’t heard elsewhere but played with the same great care.

Frans de Ward / Vital Weekly