"2005’s most exciting record of a piano-trio with 16 subtile, temerarious miniatures fraught with spirit of adventure comes from Berlin.
The way Carsten Daerr, with Oliver Poratz on bass and a brilliant sound-explorer called Eric Schaefer on drums free new classical music from everything top-heavy and at the same time free jazz from patterns that were straining it for centuries, is something Bill Evans would never have dreamed of. Rolling Stone, Klaus von Seckendporff, 1/2006
„The classical piano-trio is in the center of attention in the jazz scene again, although it has always been present in the jazz medial background of Keith Jarrett. The german pianist Carsten Daerr with Oliver Poratz, bass, and Eric Schaefer, drums has found „his trio“.
On their second cd for the Berlin label Traumton, the musicians try to explore the sound capacities of their instruments. Plucking of strings, cluster and then again bubbling passages, descending to a dynamic unisono performance. Carsten Daerr surprises over again with new turnarounds, impressions and expressions in quick interplays between equal partners. The search for the unknown stands in the center, stillstand and outbreak of the compositions develop in an unexpected but coherent way: dynamic and calm as two equally strong poles, that reward the listener with a slightly different kind of „family-music“. Jazzzeit (THO), 11/2005
Rastaman’s Frustration
They still exist, the demure things. And jazz-musicians who make them : The Carsten Daerr trio from Berlin defies the temptation of smoochy standards and loungy gallantry-goods and instead plays compositions without defined „changes“ and chord progressions. „Bantha Food“ (Traumton Records) connects the sound-exploration of modern experimental music and the powerful, full of relish play with different elements: Postbop-Powerplay, Reggae-Beats and impressionistic piano-improvisations fall in place to miniatures, which carry beautiful names like „Rastaman Frustration (negativ)“ and sound as if they were inspired by „Star Wars“ – adventures in the widths of the sound-cosmos. Lufthansa exclusive 11/2005
„An undogmatic relationship to free performance unifies and honours Germany’s young piano-trio-(Avant)Garde. Jens Thomas and Michael Wollny don’t play free-jazz, but they play with free-jazz. And also Berlin pianist Carsten Daerr’s Trio makes, after the success of their vaunted debut „PurpleCoolCarSleep“, with the second album clear, what concertgoers already appreciate for quite a time: We’re not affixed on music that could be put into chord-changes for the „Real Book“. But we don’t want to do completely without tempting grooves, changes and melodies because of that.
Refusing to pay the admission price for the world of free-jazz that way, the enjoyably unagitated rebels come refreshingly near to a new invention of the piano-trio in the area of conflict of jazz and new classical music. ...
They experiment with sounds, structures- and amazing results: the new classical elements are improvisatorily animated instead of being congealed top-heavily.
Eric Schaefer’s drums can sound ten cubic centimetres small and in the next moment they strike out to a mighty attac. Also Oliver Poratz doesn’t have to struggle himself out of the classical role of setter of the fundament. The often conjured equality, here it comes for the same part radically as naturally. Even though this trio takes the risk of stroppy liberation-attemps, their music remains – even without the funny explanations in the booklet – comprehensible. When it finds its listeners. But for those who are, contrast-bath of cross-grain and the most tender chamber-music-whispers turns out to be an adventure full of relish: 16 miniatures that attest to maximum ingenuity.“
Jazz cd of the month Rondo, Klaus von Seckendorff, 22.10.2005
„ Currently, the upstarter concerning jazz piano who is mostly paied regard to, is Carsten Daerr. The congenial trio with Oliver Poratz on bass and Eric Schaefer on drums sovereignly navigates through 16 new compositions. Nothing here sounds as if it was already discovered or already ticked off, no, lame compromises are consciously avoided.“ CB jazzthing, 9/2005
Thanks to his skills concerning his technique of playing, Carsten Daerr, hoping for a wider audience, could also position himself as a neo-romantic tarred with the same brush as Bred Mehldau. But the berlin pianist consequently remains with a more extensive approach to the current events in music. Daerr’s pieces are complex sound-spaces in the tradition of the experimental modernity, which, with Eric Schaefer (drums) and Oliver Poratz (bass), interlace to communicative motive-networks: Jazz to listen to with a lot to thrive on!“ Stereoplay 11/2005, Ralf Dombrowski
After his highly lauded debut PurpleCoolCarSleep (2003), followed up by what
Rolling Stone Magazine heralded as "The most exciting piano trio album of
the year 2005 ", Bantha Food (2005), we are now presented with Insomniac
Wonderworld, the third album from Carsten Daerr's original trio of himself (piano,
organ), Oliver Potratz (bass) and Eric Schaefer (drums). Saxophonist Uwe Steinmetz
appears as a guest on two tracks.
Insomniac Wonderworld - the title allows for a lot of associations:
for example the world of sleepless creatures of the night, as portrayed in
Jürgen
Roland's 1959 film "Unser Wunderland bei Nacht" (" Wonderland
by Night"). The director combines scenes from Hamburg's nightlife with
the narration style of the American Film Noir here, so creating his own distinctive
aesthetics. With the music of pianist Daerr (born in 1975) it's pretty much
the
same thing: For years he's been expanding the boundaries of his music by harmonizing
the art of genuine American jazz with his German roots, finding his way to
his own expression, his own individual language.
The insomnia on Insomniac Wonderworld
is not one of nervous restlessness however; for Carsten Daerr "insomniac" means
much more a condition of heightened wakefulness in which amazement and wonder
constantly pop into in the present.
Carsten Daerr has retained the ability to marvel at things, and along with
that has the rare talent of literally playing between the lines. The impressions
from
his Southeast Asian tour aren't built into his works in the form of folkloristic
reminiscing, but as far-reaching directness and suspenseful dynamics. On songs
like "Manila", "Kuala Lumpur", "Singapur" and "Jakarta",
it becomes obvious that traveling is the album's central theme. Travel destinations
serve Daerr as the starting point for five of the twelve tracks; the atmosphere,
architecture and sound tapestries from these Asian metropolises are worked
into his compositions.
Daerr plays with the open structures of jazz, leaves the trodden path and
seeks new perspectives to describe places in Southeast Asia. The results of
this
cosmopolitan approach are such unique songs as the energy-laden "Manila", the
strangely impenetrable and mystically charged "Penang", or "Singapur",
that starts like a sixty's instrumental, becomes increasingly complex, and
suddenly ends up reminiscing of reggae and dub . Carsten Daerr, it seems, is
stranger
to no one and nothing in the world of music.
More introspective compositions supply the contrast to these songs, above all
the lyrical "Epilog (for my father)" and the piano-solo composition "Lucia".
These homages to people create a quasi antipole to the "travel songs".
A further caesura are the compositions drummer Eric Schaefer contributes to
the album. In the wild and choppy "Negative FX" he appears to be dealing
with his relationship to hardcore in the 80's, and on the seemingly other-worldly
track "Flatus Voci", the trio uses sound samples of a church organ,
among others. And finally, "R2D2 Reloaded" gives us a double recourse
to the past: for one the song has the same name as the cuddly robot in the
Sci-Fi cult epic Star Wars, for another on Bantha Food there was already a
composition
with the title R2D2 (Err-Zwo-De-Zwo). It's exactly this musical back reference
that shows what quantum leaps the trio has made in the last two years. And
how these nmusicians, after the Bantha Food excursion, have arrived in the
here and now - distinctly more grounded.
After existing for ten years, Carsten Daerr and his trio have not only delivered
the proverbial "difficult third album" as one says in the world
of music, but with Insomniac Wonderworld, have pushed open a door to a new
sound universe. And leave the amazement to the listener.
Wenn ihr Lust habt, dann könnt ihr ja mal bei http://www.musikerVZ.cc vorbeischauen. Der Treffpunkt für Musiker bietet eigene Profile mit eigenen Songs, Kleinanzeigen und einen Eventkalender.
wooop and yes, it's out now: the Lump200 album UNSIGNED
please feel free to comment, recommend etc. UNSIGNED is available on iTunes, finetunes etc. (world) and as CD (D/CH/A), please check your preferred shop
wir spielen am Donnerstag, den 9.10. in der alten kantine um 21.00 im rahmen der popkomm. es haben sich ein paar interessante hoffentlich zukünftige medienpartner angekünfigt uns zuzuschauen und ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn du vorbeikommst und es ein paar leuten weitersagst:-) vor 10 leuten spielen wäre irgendwie doof:-) hoffe dir geht es gut!!
