MP3 Van Veenendaal, Kneer, Sun - Predictable Point of Impact

Powerful jazz piano trio. "Main feature is a non hierarchical approach, free of any cliché. Predictable Point of Impact is a powerful statement of a matured collaboration." -Jazzflits, Herman te Loo

10 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Contemporary Jazz, AVANT GARDE: Free Improvisation

Show all album songs: Predictable Point of Impact Songs


Details:
Veenendaal/ Kneer/ Sun

Albert van Veenendaal: (prepared) piano
Meinrad Kneer: double bass
Yonga Sun: drums

During some inspiring duo encounters, Meinrad Kneer and Albert van Veenendaal discovered that their conceptions about improvisation and interplay are very similar. Very naturally the desire arose to establish a piano trio in which they could give shape to their musical ideas.

In the young drummer Yonga Sun they found their perfect partner. These three authentic musicians are led by intuition and mutual inspiration. Drawing on a vast vocabulary of improvisational techniques they welcome the surprise and cherish the unexpected. Composition and improvisation are organically merged. Their performances are led by a strong sense of form and groove and can best be described as epical musical adventures.


PRESS:

The second release from the Amsterdam-based label Evil Rabbit Records features a trio, existing of Albert van Veenendaal (prepared piano), Meinrad Kneer (double bass) and Yonga Sun (drums, little things). The music is difficult to pigeonhole, raginging from Merit Becker-like cabaret moments, to swinging jazz improvisations. Even within the songs the style can change suddenly. In general the music is sparkling and tuneful. Songs such as Alex the Woitec guy are moody and sensitive, whereas the piece Wolf hunt (inspired by Lev Tolstoi's novel War and piece) starts minimal and introvert and ends in a climax. The title track is a non-lineair improv. session which gets exciting in the end as well. All in all this is eclectic unpredictable improv. jazzy music.
Phosphor Magazine number 123, September 2007
http://www.xs4all.nl/phosphor/next_issue.html
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Another disk released by this new, innovative label. When listening to this traditional (piano) trio, you can catch nuances of silence burgeoning. If you take your time, these musical intruders from the infernal cellars of darkness will lovingly entrap your attention. Itâs worth it to listen to them attentively.
The CD proffers plenty of surprises, and the âspars and parriesâ are executed with precision.
Mitter, Freistil â Magazin für Musik und Umgebung, No. 14, July, 2007, translated by Gabriele Günther
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evil rabbit is a young dutch jazz label started by the jazz musicians albert van veenendaal and meinrad kneer, who, according to a growing tendency, decided to start their own label in order to steer the destiny of their own artistic creations. the first of the two records, âpredictable point of impactâ offers highly rhythmical jazz, build on evolutions between drums and piano; it is very similar to the more recent releases of matthew shipp with âthirsty earâ, but without electronics. albert van veenendaal presents himself as a solid and tasteful pianist while bassist meinrad kneer is frequently involved in stylistic refinements (âeasy uneasyâ). their style includes a basic melodic component, the theme, which the three musicians take distance from to take off on their individual solos, never superfluous but always developed in line with the original context. listen especially to the pressing performances in âhappy hourâ, âposthume verleumdungâ and âdance to sing strangely withâ, in which the improvised part and the melodic line are masterly rejoined (with strong quotes by pianist van veenendaal), or the more elaborated, refined, wide breathing suites âalex the woitek guyâ and âas cucumbersâ. (...) evil rabbit presents itself so highly promising that itâs interesting now to find back the first two releases from the catalogue for other beautiful surprises.
alfredo rastelli, 20 july 2007, sands-zine, translated by sara ercoli
http://www.sands-zine.com/recensioni.php?IDrec=947
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The new Dutch label Evil Rabbit Records shines through its graphic design which is equally simple as it is good-looking. The same criteria match the music played by the trio Van Veenendaal/Kneer/Sun. Pianist Van Veenendaalâs preference are transparent, uncomplicatedly sounding melodies with a clear and gripping undercurrent. Heâs a highly imaginative player who has found a perfect match in the young drummer Yonga Sun. The deep bass lines played by Meinrad Kneer provide the necessary cement that keeps the music together. This is how the trioâs enthusiastic explorations toe the line in a satisfying way. Their witty playfulness gets all the space it needs but never winds up being feeble or uncommitted. Not every composition manages to hold the tension throughout the entire piece but it is quite remarkable how this band has created a sound so distinctly their own. After all within the piano trio format many bands sound alike.
mischa andriessen, jazzmozaïek 2/2007,
translated by anna feilchenfeldt, http://www.muziekmozaiek.be/download/JM72_CDNieuw.pdf
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The trioâs main feature is a non hierarchical approach, free of any cliché. Predictable Point of Impact is a powerful statement of a matured collaboration. They combine the adventurous content of improvisation with the subtlety of a classical chamber music trio, topped off with the vigour of a rock band. They often use grooving figures where each one of the members might take on the roll as grooving element, allowing the other two to move freely. The suppleness with which they shift roles and take over is amazing. The effect is kaleidoscopic music that transforms into a movie in the listenerâs head. Above all, Van Veenendaal and Kneer write gripping compositions that take a whimsical course and reach a lot further than the typical theme-solo-theme setup found in most jazz music. Their music is definitely not American maid. The joyful marches, the circus-like music or the almost rocky vamps are absolutely European by origin.
Jazzflits, Herman te Loo, 11th February 2007
HYPERLINK "http://www.jazzflits.nl/jazzflits5.03.pdf" http://www.jazzflits.nl/jazzflits5.03.pdf , translated by Anna Feilchenfeldt
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Pianist Albert van Veenendaal, double bassist Meinrad Kneer and drummer Yonga Sun travel Jazzâs modern mainstream on this album with thrilling tension in abundance. Their music tells a story. Like visual artists and dancers, they leave us with memories that linger; memories that spark images of Latin dancers, forest hunters, urban dwellers, and pastoral serenaders. Each selection carries a fair amount of lyric melody, while constantly shifting moods avoid any sense of predictability. The trioâs spontaneous adventures contain seamless transitions and gentler textures that assure a smooth performance; yet, the content of their message remains filled with dramatic sequences.
The albumâs title song, âPredictable Point of Impact,â flows with the anxiety of a turned-on rhythmic groove, while âLonely Weekendâ describes the feeling that we hold when weâre left with nothing but our thoughts. Van Veenendaal adds prepared grand piano on âAlex the Woitec Guy,â âWolf Hunt,â and âPapperlapappâ to add off- the-wall impressions, while Kneer and Sun add an array of unique sounds on their respective instruments. Together, they create a rare collection of musical timbres that aid them in relating the stories that theyâve created. Commissioned by Fonds Voor de Scheppende, the ten selections hold distinct colors in tow. âWolf Huntâ was inspired by Leo Tolstoyâs War and Peace, while âPapperlapappâ is presented in memory of Russian author Velimir Khlebnikov. Piano and bass drift slightly out of tune during some of the sessionâs slower periods, giving the program an added taste of tension. It works out just right for this recommended trio performance and its genuine flavor.
cadence, july 2007, Jim Santella
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Regarding Roscoe Mitchell's last work (Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3), the eternal diatribe on the meeting / battle between composition and improvisation was purposely discussed. It was reasonably argued that a large part of the better products of creative music of this last/new millenium actually ensue from fruitful and unedited collisions between the monolithic persistence of the written page and the inequivocable spontaneity of improvisation.
It would be really interesting to hear what a fully rounded musician like Albert Van Veenendaal (recently heard duoing with our Fabrizio Puglisi in the wonderful Duets for Prepared Unprepared and Toy Pianos) thinks. Founder of the Evil Rabbit label, author of scores for theatrical works and dance shows, esteemed interpreter of the contemporary repertoire, unrelenting experimenter, not to mention funambulist improviser: this Dutch pianist is a paradigmatic character from this point of view.
On the other hand, without dragging the phantasmatic genius loci latino into it, his nationality is already in itself, index of an elevated quotient of unpredictability, of a shattering resistence to let himself be pigeon-holed and of a certain taste for the absurd. Characters of the calibre of Willem Breuker and Misha Mengelberg, acknowledged paladins of music without fences and supporters of some of the more successful contaminations between the timeless rigidity of forms and the eternal instantaneity of improvisation back this up.
And, starting with the dialectic paradox of instantaneous composition coined by Mengelberg, a timid approach to the essential dinamics of the surprising Predictable Point of Impact can be attempted. This because the sensation is really that of a rigorous score that takes life only and exactly in the instant in which it is heard.
In an irresistably unstable and precarious equilibrium; the ten tracks alternate, overlap and intertwine rigidly and masterly structured passages with shining shreds of anarchy, convoluted rythmic-harmonic juxtapositions of blinding flash musicality, unmistakably academic suggestiveness and unexpected jazz explosions. All this without resorting to censorship, stagnant interludes or predictable chains of command. In short, improvisation and composition are interpenetrated, confounded and chased in a satisfying game of rejections, reflections, recalls and reverberations.
In the boiling cauldron prepared by Veenendaal and associates the obsessive âHappy Hourâ, the fluttering âPosthume verleumdungâ (in which an irresistible crescendo and a compulsive little walzer cohabit with disarming genuinity) and the languid âPapperlapappâ (made more precious by a suggestive introduction and improvised dissonant explosions) are most notable.
Needless to add that the phenomenal bassist Meinrad Kneer (here represented also in the guise of author) and the eclectic drummer Yonga Sun move on an absolutely even plane with the leader. The group breathes in unison in total absence of dominant positions and gerarchic constraints. Has the old formula of the piano trio found the way to be reborn from its ashes again?
Luca Canini, http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=1687, 21 may 2007, translated by Emma Ryan
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On the first sight it seems to be the setting of a classical piano trio. But appearances are deceiving, because this trio doesnât stick to the traditional role allocation of a soloing pianist and his accompanists. Within this group everybody is equal and that provides particularly exciting music. The cd counts 10 pieces, written by Van Veenendaal and Kneer, with intriguing titles as âAs Cucumbersâ and âDance To Sing Strangely Withâ. The interaction of the three sounds surprisingly good; the composed and improvised passages merge organically from one into another. This gives us an album which doesnât bore for a moment and it getâs better every time we listen to it. Too, the design of this cd is very original. Including most pictorial music.
Jos van den Berg, Plato Mania nr: 227, 06.03.2007
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the trio, has been an item for the past few years and has developed into one of hollandâs most interesting contemporary jazz groups, especially since theyâve given the classic piano trio new meaning. the arrangements and the collaboration are so cunning that even after repeatedly playing the cd new details appear. these musicians are unfailingly aware of each other. their music is made of tight, fast harmonic changes that go hand in hand with rhythmical phrasing, keeping a firm hold on the bandâs sound. the improvisations are interesting and itâs the subtle movements of role play between the instruments that keep on drawing oneâs attention.
draai om je oren, ken vos, 6th march 2007
HYPERLINK "http://www.draaiomjeoren.nl20/"http://www.draaiomjeoren.nl
translated by anna feilchenfeldt