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 Reviews / Quotes
Bellagram
There are the requisite dashes of wry humor and madcap frenzy, but it always seems to proceed with a certain structural logic..What is apparent throughout is that these three are astute listeners. They know each other well and can react with lightning-quick response to any twist or turn thrown in by any member. This release is full of surprises at every turn, offering a compelling document proving that the spontaneous invention and masterful interplay of Dutch improvisation is alive and vital.
Michael Rosenstein, Cadence: February 1999
Here is Fuhler as he really is: the playful spirit of Dutch improvised music. He plays the piano, and the Philicorda organ, and the melodica, and the keyolin (keyed violin), and he plays them all at the same time, or rather through, next to and with each other as if his life depends on it. It's good-humored, it's as lucid as Herbie Nichols and it swings like crazy.
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden: 21 August 1998
From the opening bars it is evident that Bellagram extends the grand tradition of Dutch improvising. Fuhler plays piano, under the sign of Thelonius Monk, as filtered through Misha Mengelberg, with a striking lightness of touch, and turns when the mood suits to organ, melodica and keyed violin. De Joode's bass contribution is suitably discreet, while (amazingly) Bennink sustains something approaching delicacy throughout the set. The familiar anarchic eruptions of the Dutch approach have been channelled into pervasive good humour, a winning combination of untypical elegance and characteristic mischief.
Julian Crowley, The Wire: n.d.
The music is intelligent, but not intellectual; humorous, but not out for effect. It is rather the improvisations themselves that produce sometimes hilarious effects, such as Fuhler's solo on an elderly Farfisa organ suddenly evoking a 60's Italian hit. Fuhler is supported by the best collaborative rhythm section in Dutch jazz at present: bassist Wilbert de Joode and drummer Han Bennink. This is music where idiosyncratic fantasy runs rampant.
LS, Jazz News: September 1999
Humor, seeming simplicity, unexpected diversions, almost-parodies - all things that Fuhler has in common with his illustrious predecessors. Nevertheless he has enough originality to distinguish himself from them. And Bellagram proves that convincingly.
HtL, Muziek Journaal: November 1998
Clichés get new content, rhythmic tension and charming melodies take on new meaning in Fuhlers world, sometimes quasi naive, but always governed by a clear intelligence.
Frank Van Herk, Jazz Nu: November 1998
What makes this cd so fascinating is that Fuhler, Bennink and de Joode simultaneously comment on old jazz forms while breathing new life into them. This proves their pedigree - not only do they play existing material wonderfully, they also constantly spot reference points from which to develop their own sound world.
Jacqueline Oskamp, De Groene Amsterdammer: 14 October 1998
Early on, Dutch keyboardist Cor Fuhler and his trio with bassist Wilbert de Joode and drummer Han Bennink offered a more extreme stream of consciousness at the Milner Library Theatre, sporting the sort of risky association the Dutch seem to excel at. Which is not to suggest it was all wild cacophony - some short passages had a genuinely tuneful quality, and some sections were creepily atmospheric. As expected, Bennink brought the most comedic - or rather, acrobatic - element throwing his sticks and a bunch of lumber around in ways that kind of clicked musically. But de Joode created his own alternative discord bowing and plucking pizziccato, and Fuhler's fondness for reaching into the piano's box yielded interesting effects as the group ebbed and flowed from chaos to a warped kind of swing and back again on a moment's notice.
Roger Levesque
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