Colophony |cs229

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)

This is a European collaboration of free improvisers by Australian violinist Jon Rose, who also plays tenor violin, with Meinrad Kneer, a German double bass player based in Amsterdam, and UK composer/improviser Richard Barrett. Barrett divides his time between London and Berlin, and is also a member of the Australian International Elision Ensemble, noted for performing music by Liza Lim, and the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble.
Creative Sources Records is based in Lisbon and has released albums by a wide range of European avant-garde musicians artists including Berlin-based Australian Tony Buck who is also a member of The Necks.
The title and cover photo refer to rosin, also the title of Rose’s box set released last year, and also known as colophony or Greek pitch (Pix græca), the solid form of resin obtained from pines and other plants and used to lubricate violin bows. It is of course also a pun on Rose’s name.
The album was recorded in Berlin in June 2012 and the three musicians subsequently toured Europe. It is free electro-acoustic improvisation, and the 11 tracks are titled Colophony 1 to 11, although of varying lengths. Colophony 8 lasts just 45 seconds, and consists of a series of shrieks, while Colophony 5 is 13 and a half minutes.
The bowed instruments appear to dominate, with both also plucked regularly, while Barrett’s electronics are relatively subdued, although all three musicians are consummate improvisers.
There are variations in dynamics, range and tone, although the overall mood is rather subdued, especially on track 13, and at times there are demands made on the listener, as one would expect of Rose. He is however without his usual bag of tricks here, in the sense that he plays relatively “conventional” violin.
The three performers blend together seamlessly, and often it is difficult to tell the instruments apart. There is also a sense of control, as if, although being composed in the moment, the music and the conversation between the musicians is carefully thought through. Tony Mitchell (The Music Trust)

[...] Desculpa-se, pois, que em “Colophony” a sua intervenção seja bastante convencional. Jon Rose já nada tem a provar e, de qualquer modo, este CD é já por si a manifestação de uma vitória. Durante vários anos o violinista lutou contra um cancro e conseguiu subjugá-lo, durante esse tempo tendo praticamente desaparecido de cena. O que importa nesta edição não é a exploração de novas soluções, e isso apesar de, no trio em que está inserido, constar um “laptoper” que é também um importante compositor da mais desafiante música erudita / experimental da actualidade, Richard Barrett. Relevante nela é, sim, o regresso com todo o seu brilho de uma voz do violino que fazia falta. Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)

Met Colophony, opnieuw een release op Creative Sources die in Berlijn werd opgenomen, belanden we op het terrein van de electro-akoestische muziek, en opnieuw een pak verder van het jazzterrein. Hier heeft Kneer zich omringd met muzikanten die al bakken ervaring opgedaan hebben. De Australische violist Jon Rose draait al decennialang mee in de wereld van vrije improvisatie en andere experimentele muziek, terwijl Richard Barrett een instituut is binnen het wereldje. Barrett is bovendien een van de leden van Evan Parkers gerenommeerde Electro-Acousctic Ensemble,de band die een paar jaar geleden nog een legendarisch concert gaf in Hasselt.
Het album laat door de dominante aanwezigheid van twee strijkinstrumenten natuurlijk een heel ander geluid horen dan het voorgaande, waardoor het evenwicht in dit driespan vooral moet komen van Richard Barrett, die er knap in slaagt om op allerhande manieren de voor de hand liggende paden te vermijden. Dit doet hij door het ene moment vooral in te zetten op haast percussieve klanken, van plasticachtig gerammel tot knetterend gezeur, maar net zo vaak met prominente blieps & blops, alsof hij de stijl van Ikue Mori en het geraaskal van R2D2 wil verenigen. De andere muzikanten tonen zich intussen van hun meest excentrieke kant, met abrupte wendingen, plots opduikende harmonieën en soms merkwaardige klanken. Het album flirt hier en daar met de monotonie, maar weet dat door de relatief compacte lengtes van de stukken en de imposante instrumentbeheersing net te vermijden. Guy Peters (enola.be)