Theo Jörgensmann, Snijbloemen (hatOLOGY, 1999)

Theo Jörgensmann, clarinet
Christopher Dell, vibes
Christian Ramond, bass
Klaus Kugel, drums

Recorded January 19 & 20 and April 14, 1999
Vagnsson Studio, Hannover, Germany
Engineer: Hrolfur Vagnsson

When reading The Penguin Guide to Jazz, I often encounter artists I had never heard of before. Theo Jörgensmann was one of many that I chose to take a chance on. I was attracted by the instrumentation: vibes and clarinet resonate with me, and my previous posts for Ralph Peterson and Jay Hoggard are evidence of this. The Guide's reviews of Jörgensmann's quartet albums were also very positive.

                    Ramond          Dell        Kugel       Jörgensmann

Snijbloemen (translated from Dutch as "cut flowers") is a refreshing free jazz exercise by an all-German quartet. Jörgensmann and vibist Christopher Dell are the primary voices, and they enjoy a sympathetic connection.  However, Christian Ramond and Klaus Kugel are essential partners who appear to anticipate what the lead voices require while provoking much of the action. 

As with a few other posts, I run into difficulties describing freely improvised music. However, I've clipped the following comments from a website used by the quartet to promote current activities. These comments match my own freely associated response to the quartet's music.

Vibrating and stunning communication on the finest technical level imaginable. -music against the law of purity (...) dancing elegance, humorous intelligence, sensitive poetry (...), the ultimate improvised chamber music. (Weltwoche, Switzerland, 2002).

Much to my delight, the quartet continue to perform and record. Their album At the Fields Edge (Not Two, 2025) is every bit as stunning as their recordings from 25 years earlier. It's gratifying to blog about artists who have sustained a level of excellence from the 1990s through to the present. It is rare to find an intact quartet exploring the same vein of improvisation as they did a quarter century earlier. 

Anyone interested in exceptional group improvisation delivered by obvious virtuosi should check out the Theo Jörgensmann Quartet. Especially recommended are Snijbloemen's sequel, To Ornette: Hybrid Identity (hatOLOGY, 2001), and the earlier Ta Eko Mo (Z.O.O., 1997).