March 17th, 2025 – Jazz Word (CAD)
by Ken Waxman
“Standard creative music configuration for many years, the reeds, double bass and drums trio lends itself to many interpretations and considerations. In its purest form it showcases the players performing like acrobats without a safety net which in musical terms would be the addition of one or more chordal instruments. Both Van Huffel/Kneer/Dimitriadis (VKD) and the AALY Trio operate this way, with the reedists – Canadian Peter Van Huffel with VKD and Swede Mats Gustafsson with the AALY – adding to their balancing act(s) by switching among various horns while in the equivalent of mid-air…
An ad hoc collaboration among three musicians busy in Berlin, VKD consists of German bassist Meinrad Kneer and Greek percussionist Yorgos Dimitriadis with Van Huffel playing alto and baritone saxophones. Still the eight track on Synomilies – the ancient term for salons – are no less ferocious than the 11 on Sustain….
Overall with a combination of ratcheting percussion asides, allied woody string strokes and fragmented reed movement from irregular doits to Aylerian screams, VKD certifies the continued validity of exploratory Free Jazz trio music.”
For full original review click here or above
February 17th, 2025 – Jazzflits (NL)
by Herman te Loo
“Although saxophonist Peter van Huffel and bassist Meinrad Kneer hang out together in the latter’s quintet, where compositions are the starting point for their im- provance, they both also love the free work. On this new album (released on Kneer’s label Evil Rabbit), they find Greek percussionist Yorgos Dimitriadis at their side, who, like the Canadian and the German, has found a place in Berlin’s fertile improv scene. The eight pieces they perform on ‘Synomilies’ cover a wide range, from rhythm and melody-free soundscapes on the edges of silence (such as ‘A Tree has a thousand ears’) to old-fashioned, energetic free jazz (‘Beasts and creatures’). Van Huffel opts mainly for the baritone sax, and with his long lines he then combines perfectly with the strung bass, which in Kneer’s hands is always flawless. Dimitriadis colours and fiddles and makes his cymbals sing wherever possible. Above all, they listen with ears on stalks, so that the end result is always much more than the individual contributions.
Translated from Dutch with DeepL.com
For full original review click here or above
January 21st, 2025 – Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej (PL)
by Jan Granile
“What lies ahead is a trio with a similar instrumental set, again considerable portions of chamber connotations (another excellent musician from across our western border at the helm of the double bass!), but also a significant contribution of free jazz, which incidentally boldly reaches for free attributes. The eight stories here last just over three quarters of an hour, so the presumption that these three musicians also have a great command of form is close to certainty.
The beginning of this story is far from intimate – resonating cymbals, the dark drone of the baritone and post-percussion bow actions on the double bass neck. The next exposition puts the focus on dynamics, built both by juicy saxophone phrases and temperamental, brooding bowing and coherent, unmassive drumming.The fourth seems here to be a reprise of the first, while the fifth boldly puts a mark between that and the fiery free jazz that has been heralded so far. Great moments are recorded here by the bloodthirsty baritone. The sixth story is a light as a peacock’s feather miniature, sewn high with an engagingly danceable rhythm. The last two improvisations reach more readily for chamber solutions. There is no shortage of impressive prepared parts, especially from the percussionist and double bass player, short inhalations and long exhalations from the saxophonist, but also more dynamic intervals, states of emotional exasperation. The final narrative in the opening phase seems to be a farewell meta ballad, saturated with the sadness of the bow and the trepidation of the baritone. Again, however, a rhythm sprouts in the artists’ minds, which pushes the album’s punchline into jazzy rocking and then invites an arduous climb to the final ascent. Here too, almost at the end of the journey, a handful of double bass actions mark a true mastery of creation.”
Translated from original Polish with DeepL.com
Click here or above for the original review
December, 2024 – Salt Peanutes (NO)
by Jan Granile
“Van Huffel’s baritone saxophone stands out at the start over Kneer’s fine bass playing and with light and fine drumming. The first song, ‘e la nave va’ is a kind of dream vision, with the saxophone leading the way. But already in the second track, ‘umstürzende einbauten’, things change with heavy string bass and walking drums. And instead of a kind of dream sequence, we get energetic playing that fascinates with the fact that the music is free, but at the same time it seems relatively open.
And so they continue through the eight tracks. We get varied and freely improvised ‘stretches’ that, even though we have to hear them in the writing room and not at a concert, seem like they are standing in the middle of the living room and playing. The sound, created by Christian Betz at Berlinaudio, is so clear and pure that you almost feel you can ‘touch’ the sound.
The free jazz on the disc is very European, and I feel that Blessed Peter Brötzmann and the circle around him would have nodded approvingly at what we hear. Because this is free jazz in the spirit of ‘Brötz’. And the three musicians do this music with great conviction, which I think is necessary if this music is to work.”
Translated from Norwegian with DeepL.com
For full original review click here or above
December 20th, 2024 – Something Else!
by Victor S. Aaron
“Earlier in 2024, we told you about a daring new electro-acoustic quartet started up saxophonist Peter Van Huffel and their debut album. But the Berlin-based Canadian expatriate’s got more stuff cookin’. Meet his new free jazz trio with double bassist Meinrad Kneer and drummer Yorgos Dimitriades and their debut album Synomilies.
Returning a strictly acoustic format, Van Huffel has been working with the German Kneer and the Greek Dimitriades in a combo that cuts across different countries, cultures and backgrounds to find a common vision in improvised music.
The Van Huffel, Kneer & Dimitriades trio is freer, to be sure, but also more contemplative, as the core of this music is the close listening and reacting to each other. The album even opens on hushed note: “E La Nave Va” floats along not beholden to any rhythm but the doleful, instant melody the trio teases out. As Huffel invents a lead line and Kneer comes up with harmonic counterpoints, Dimitriades expertly provides the proper amount of tonal shading to complete the portrait. “Au Comptoir” is pensive at first, but you can sense the three loosening up over the course of the song, which doesn’t mean going off of a cliff, but instead maintaining their composure.”
Click here to read the full review
December 12th, 2024 – Jazz Mania (Belgium)
by Eric Therer
“La dernière fois que nous avions évoqué le nom de Peter Van Huffel dans nos pages, c’était en juin dernier à l’occasion de la sortie de « Meandering Demons », un album conçu au sein de son quatuor Callisto. Ce nouveau disque le voit revenir à une formule en trio avec à ses côtés le contrebassiste Meinrad Kneer et le batteur Yorgos Dimitriadis. Van Huffel officie au saxophone, de façon prévisible au baryton, mais aussi à l’alto. Enregistré lui aussi à Berlin, il est le premier opus de ce trio, lequel se revendique ouvertement de l’héritage de la tradition free-jazz. D’entrée de jeu, la première composition « E la nave va », clin d’œil à Fellini, confirme cette inspiration. Juste après, « Umstürzende Einbauten » se veut à la fois un jeu de mots et un clin d’oreille aux frasques déconstruites d’Einstürzende Neubauten. Mais ici, le chaos est maîtrisé et ne profile jamais brutalement. Aux outils et à l’électronique, notre trio préfère la chaleur et la rondeur des instruments acoustiques. Une musique flottante que chaque musicien tente de porter sans jamais submerger les autres. Une musique aérée qui laisse la place à la respiration et aux retraites. Parfois, la cadence s’emballe sans crier gare comme sur « Beasts and Creatures », mais elle finit toujours par revenir à la raison. « Synomilies » est édité par le petit label Evil Rabbit fondé par Meinrad Kneer, une structure qui revendique farouchement son indépendance et qui se bat pour promouvoir le travail de la communauté des improvisateurs. Un label connu également pour son identité visuelle particulière reprenant très souvent une pochette en carton sobre percée d’un rond en son centre.”
November 21st, 2024 – Diskoryxieon
by Fontas Trousas
Winds, double bass and drums are also on this CD, called “Synomilies” and signed by Peter van Huffel alto & baritone saxophones, Meinrad Kneer double bass and Yorgos Dimitriadis drums, percussion. Basically, it is a Berlin trio, consisting of a Canadian, a German and a Greek musician (Dimitriadis is known to us both from “personal” albums and collaborations), recorded at Berlinaudio (in the same city) in January 2022 and presenting us eight compositions, moving freely in a free environment.
First of all, van Huffel’s sound is a first element that stands out – in the sense that its volume is decisive for the development of the recording. Behind the Canadian’s saxophones, the bass and drums sometimes growl (as in the allusive “A tree has a thousand ears”), creating totally evocative situations, and sometimes they accompany from more forward positions, but with equally powerful playing (as we hear in the heavy “Beasts and creatures”).
On this pattern, with the more abstract and subdued tracks alternating with the more dynamic and extroverted ones, the whole of “Synomilies” moves – an intense album, either in its peaks or in its valleys, that always keeps you on your toes.
Translated from Greek with DeepL.com – click here for original
October 28th, 2024 – Bad Alchemy
by Rigobert Dittmann
Hier bleckt einmal mehr das Killerkaninchen von Caerbannog seine Zähne. Wobei auf Synomilies (ERR37) noch weitere ‘beasts and creatures’ drohen, ‘steel water’ saufende und Einbauten umstürzende. Einer schreit: Es ist bei den Schiffen (‘e la nave va’), ein andrer: An der Theke (‘au comptoir’). ‘A tree has a thousand ears’, ich hab nur zwei Schlappohren, um zu hören, was PETER VAN HUFFEL, MEINRAD KNEER und YORGOS DIMITRIADIS da mit Alto- & Baritonsax, Kontrabass und Drums umeinandertönen. Mit dem Kunstsinn von Gorilla Mask und Callisto, von Dalgoo, dem Julie Sassoon Quartet und Meinrad Kneer Quintet, dem Twirls 4tet oder Being Five und in bereits in diversen Begegnungen erprobter Sympathie. Die basiert auf dem geteilten Faible für vertrillertes, bohrendes, bebendes Vibrato, klappernde, kollernde, klickernde Schläge, beim Wetzen flötende und heulende oder sonstwie knurrende, girrende Bogenstriche, bevorzugt entlang der Abbruchkante hin zu Dissonanz und schillernden Tönungen. So fein, dass man Bucheckern rascheln, Metall schimmern, den Kleinspecht klopfen, sogar Pan selbst summen hört, bis die Kronen aufrauschen und wieder einlullen. Das Bariton biestert, brummt und röhrt, der Kontrabass schnarrt und plonkt, das Becken crasht, Schlaghagel poltert in klangberauschter Waldes- und himmelschreiender Lebenslust. Liquide Altotriller klingeln und prickeln, was Knarren und Piepen, Tockeln, Surren und Tuten angeht, herrscht hörbare Übereinstimmung. Und am Comptoir drängeln sich zuletzt kapitale und kleinlaute Schlucker, mit harten Schalen, pelzigen Pfoten, rauen Kehlen, hitzigem Palaver. [BA 126 rbd]
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Peter Van Huffel 