Artist: Hans Koller

Date of Release: 01/01/2005

Catalogue no: 33Jazz122

Label: 33Jazz

Price: £12

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Track Listing

Wild Roses features Hans Koller (piano), Dave Whitford (bass), Gene Calderazzo (drums)

Reviews

22/04/2005 John Fordham on WILD ROSES (the guardian)

An increasingly significant figure on the UK scene over recent years, young composer/player Koller occupies the piano chair in Mike Gibbs' occasional big-band appearances and is currently director of Jazz Composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire - and he was an inspired guide to the old London Vortex club's Sunday night open-jam sessions until the original venue's closure.
Koller's work for big ensembles probably displays his formidable vision most effectively, since in that context he sounds on the way to becoming a descendent of the post Gil Evans school of orchestral writing - to eventually rival Maria Schneider or even Carla Bley. This disc explores Koller's effervescent piano-playing in classic trio circumstances, with the hard-driving support of bassist Dave Whitford and drummer Gene Calderazzo.

The repertoire includes Herbie Nichols 2300 Skidoo and The Third World, Charles Mingus's Peggy's Blue Skylight, two Monk tunes and three originals. Koller plays beautifully off the rhythm section (check his patient improv development on the title track) and understands Monk's rhythmic sense and ability to hint at half-stated turns and resolutions. Fluent, original, and effortlessly virtuosic without losing its expressive warmth.