Probably the most striking aspect of the Clarinet Trio's music is the instrumentation: three clarinets pure. No strings, no piano, no percussion. A trio in the classical sense, without concessions to entertainment knick-knacks. No electronics either, or cheap appeals to zeitgeist or whatever lifts the spirit. The three musicians create music of strong atmospheric density. Single long lasting tones appear from nowhere. Playing with the volume, drama can be sensed. Silence. Then again sounds that palpate the silence, but also offer that exact silence the space to it's own unfolding. The music is creatively composed and sensitively improvised. It can also growl, paint sounds and swing melodically. It needs no special effects. It impresses with its creative ideas and masterly playing technique.
The Clarinet Trio since more than two decades is considered one of the leading woodwind ensembles worldwide. Its CDs today are regarded as classics and genre-forming.
In 2018 the Clarinet Trio premiered the new program : German Jazz Compositions from the 1950s and 60s. Music by Albert Mangelsdorff, Karl Berger, Rolf and Joachim Kühn, E.L. Petrowsky, Jutta Hipp, Joki Freund, Manfred Schoof and others.
'For almost 20 years now, the Clarinet Trio has been proving how three clarinets with their rich tonal range and almost limitless possibilities for shaping the sound cover all the requirements of a band. So at this live star hour in Moscow the bass lines pulsate, harmonic colours glow and percussive elements explode like fireworks. The art of improvisation on the high bar over Asian pentatonics or African-like choruses are evidence of the musicians' worldly skills. Many a playful dialogue with forms, phrases and tone sequences could have been eavesdropped on the birds' voices, as in the case of Olivier Messiaen. Most important of all: in every moment there is sparkling humour in the air. 5 stars' (Jazzthetik Magazine)
'For almost 20 years now, the Clarinet Trio has been proving how three clarinets with their rich tonal range and almost limitless possibilities for shaping the sound cover all the requirements of a band. So at this live star hour in Moscow the bass lines pulsate, harmonic colours glow and percussive elements explode like fireworks. The art of improvisation on the high bar over Asian pentatonics or African-like choruses are evidence of the musicians' worldly skills. Many a playful dialogue with forms, phrases and tone sequences could have been eavesdropped on the birds' voices, as in the case of Olivier Messiaen. Most important of all: in every moment there is sparkling humour in the air. 5 stars' (Jazzthetik Magazine)
'Germany's Gebhard Ullmann's clarinet Trio was one of the most rollicking small-groups of the festival. The clarinetists raced around each other's upper-register counterpoint on material that ranged from film composer Nino Rota's themes to an outrageous version of 'Tea For Two.' The band proved that Italian and Dutch improvisers don't have a European monopoly on humor.' - Aaron Cohen, Downbeat
Tracks
01. Collective No. 5 (Intro) (Ullmann/Kupke/Nabicht)
02. Blue Trees And Related Objects (Ullmann)
03. Translucent Tones (Up) (Ullmann)
04. Animalische Stimmen (Hermann Keller)
05. Translucent Tones (Gestalt In Three) (Ullmann)
06. I-Clowns (Nino Rota / arr. Ullmann)
07. Theo (Nabicht)
08. Collective No. 7 (Presto) (Ullmann/Kupke/Nabicht)
09. Die Zwei Farber Gehen (Ullmann)
10. Dreierlei (Ullmann)
11. Geghard (Ullmann)
12. Variations On A Theme By Eric Satie (Ullmann/Kupke/Nabicht)
13. Almost Twenty-Eight (Ullmann)
14. Collective No. 6 And No. 8 (Mysterioso) (Ullmann/Kupke/Nabicht)
15. Anna (Nabicht)
16. Der Ton A (Ullmann/Kupke/Nabicht)
17 Valzer Del Commiato (Nino Rota / arr Ullmann)
GEBHARD ULLMANN bass clarinet (left)
THEO NABICHT bass clarinet (right)
JÜRGEN KUPKE clarinet
Recorded August 7-9, 2001 at SFB Studios, Berlin
Leo Records - CD LR 339