Rolf Kuhn & Tri-O - Rollercoaster (2009)

What we hear is innovation that originates from decades of exploring his instrument and its place in jazz history: clarinetist Rolf Kühn is one of the great exponents of his genre. In the 1950s, he was among the first European musicians to receive due appreciation in the US. Kühn's cooperation with the likes of Ornette Coleman, Lee Konitz, Michael Brecker, and Albert Mangelsdorff earned him a place in the high circles of jazz. And now he's joined by three young musicians from Berlin. When they plunge into the pool of improvisation, it feels like a fountain of youth, an elixir of life - not only because different generations come together to complement one another, but also because these young guys are so damn good. Soulful and spontaneous, Rolf Kühn & Tri-O display a subtle feeling for logical sequences. Apart from during the swing era, the clarinet has mainly travelled minor roads on its journey through the history of jazz. All the more fascinating are a handful of great musicians who have managed to elicit a succinct tone from that instrument. Joachim Ernst Berendt said something worth thinking аbout: 'In every development stage of jazz, the clarinet has been a symbol of reliability.' The clarinet has earned this reputation for its potential to mediate between other instruments and establish connections between different mentalities, generations, and styles - not at the expense of a compromise, however, but by turning away from randomness. While Rollercoaster may well be seen as part of this tradition, it also opens new doors. -- [i][/i]