Claus Koch – tenor
Ralf Hesse – trumpet
Claus Raible – piano
Wolfgang Kriener – bass
Michael Keul – drums
Recorded March 26 2002.
None of the musicians on this record were known
to me before, but I enjoyed their playing tremendously, both as
soloists and collectively as a group, they are very impressive.
All of the tunes are compositions of members of the band apart from
Ghost of a Chance, which is a well-known standard.
Claus Koch is a fine inventive tenor player
with a nice tone and an excellent technique, similarly his front
line partner trumpeter Ralf Hesse, has no difficulty in getting
round the bebop inspired phrases of most of the compositions,
some of which are taken at quite a tempo. Super Spider would
be a good example of this and the rhythm section is superb at
all tempos, as a jazz trio I rate them highly.
The programme sustains the listener’s interest
throughout and the recording is crisp and clean.
I heartily recommend this disk to any jazz
fan, it is refreshing to hear such a fine group of musicians
playing their own worthwhile compositions, instead of the tuneless
junk we have had to suffer on a lot of more recent releases
from others, who should know better!
I would also recommend the group to UK Jazz
Festival organisers, they are very worthy of a UK tour, and
I would certainly like to hear a live performance by them.
Don Mather
CD Reviews
Nagel
Hayer 2029
