Description
It is well worth it to hear this trio again after such a long sabbatical. Counterfactuals, as with the trio’s other six CDs, presents a new reality and standard of music.
According to Markus Heuger, “Pianist Georg Graewe, cellist Ernst Reijseger, and drummer Gerry Hemingway celebrated the 10th anniversary of their trio in November 1999. They were invited to the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they made another exciting recording. Five years had passed when the trio traveled to perform the concert we find on this CD, but it sounds as if they had never left the stage. Graewe, Hemingway and Reijseger don’t have to prove themselves as some other super heroes of high energy ‘chopism;’ their business is intelligent radical improvised trio music.”
Counterfactuals has already gathered a lot of attention. The recording was a July 2001 “Crew’s Choice of the Month” for Drimala Records, and was an “Editor’s Pick of the Month” in August 2001 for the All About Jazz web site.
According to Glenn Astarita from All About Jazz, “Counterfactuals signifies a gregarious event, marked by unorthodox harmonic structures, ferocious interplay, and a plethora of contrasting elements. Highly recommended.”
In his four-star review in the December 2001 issue of Downbeat magazine, Greg Buium says, “It is astonishing to think that pianist Georg Graewe, cellist Ernst Reijseger, and drummer Gerry Hemingway created Counterfactuals without notes or charts or cues. The six improvisations cohere and breathe. Structures are assembled (and understood) on the spot, by telepathy or some other internal device. Indeed, this 1999 recording, taken from a North American tour celebrating 10 years together, reaquaints us with a collective voice that delights in instant composition and sonic bravery.”
This release, which is the first live recording on the nuscope label, features an 8-page booklet with liner notes from WDR Radio chief Markus Heuger and strikingly original cover photography by Catherine Wagner.
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