The Berlin-based trio Themroc 3 is named after the French abstract comedy of filmmaker Claude Faraldo where actor Michel Piccoli transforms from a conformist house painter into an anarchistic cave man. There is something in this trio aesthetics that corresponds with the film anarchist idea. An urge to seek emancipation from strict genre boundaries as well as clever, ironic perspective on any musical conventions. Legendary German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach identified that essence of the trio art and praised it as «original, progressive jazz with a hint of humour that is conveyed abstractly by the music itself».

This highly versatile trio was founded in 2002 and features Austrian trumpeter Richard Koch, known from Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra and Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin, clarinet player Benjamin Weidekamp, known for his collaborations with reeds players Gebhard Ullmann and Frank Gratkowski, and drummer Michael Griener, who also plays in Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin and is known for his work with sax player Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky and clarinet player Rudi Mahall.

Themroc 3 concise compositions emphasize the urgent, collective spirit of the trio. All three musicians play all the time – fast, catchy and straight, as if the trio is a punk band. Free associative pieces like «Jippi Brown’s 18th Birthday» or «Reiter der drei Tintenherren» (Rider Of The Three Ink Gentlemen) flow and shift constantly with organic humor and engaging, swinging rhythm. «Kott-Kodar/Subotnik» is the only piece that highlights the trio resourcefulness in its most intense, fiery mode, where all three musicians improvise simultaneously, searching for a common theme. The natural, rhythmic playfulness of Themroc 3 is captured on the brilliant title piece and the last piece, «Balkon», both are entertaining, fast swinging piece that feels totally free.

Eyal Hareuveni

Michael Griener (dr), Richard Koch (tp), Benjamin Weidekamp (cl)