ERR 32
Aforismen Aforisme Aforismes
release December 2020

Baars Henneman Dumitriu Sola

[...] Quietude is not the word, but you always feel the underlying tension: the combination of the will to achieve something and the art of waiting until the moment is there and finally what has to be said is said. And that in a special and intense sound color formed by the unusual combination of two violas, cello and clarinet or shakuhachi
--Mischa Andriessen Trouw 5-2-2021

In eleven improvised pieces, two Dutchmen, a Romanian and a Spaniard create a meeting place between different groundings, literally. The earth of their respective birthplace is the inspiration for pieces such as 'Paarse Hei', 'Estepa', 'Laagveen' or 'Brun Roscate'. Initiator George Dumitriu wanted to know more about the viola and formed a quartet there in which Ab Baars forms the sonorous cornerstone on shakuhachi. Although the music is anything but conventional, the record still evokes peace, even in the most whimsical pieces. After all, the sound image is not made up by competing instruments, on the contrary, there is room for silence and breath. Evocation and serenity make these eleven imaginative miniatures an engaging ambient listening adventure.
--Geert Ryssen, 19-2- 2021 Full Circle Music Blog

[…] All four musicians have a delicate sense of form, so that the eleven improvisations sound like compositions. Everyone's contribution to the overall sound is constantly essential, and a well-chosen silence is just as important as a note produced.
--Herman te Loo, 2/15/2021 Jazz flits

[…] It is a meeting of two different generations and one of the different cultural backgrounds. No doubt it leans on the long experience Henneman and Baars have as a musical duo, but the inspired interplay by all four is evident. Titles of the eleven improvisations refer to types of soil found in the three countries they come from. […] Throughout everything sounds as it is meant to be. ‘Instantly composed’ and far from arbitrary, with interventions by Baars that are as accurate and well-aimed as ever. A very enjoyable and successful, inspired meeting of poetic improvisations.
--Dolf Mulder, 23 february 2021, vital weekly #1273, week 8

[…] This chamber quartet focuses on a patient and fearless search of unconventional textures and dynamics, where the ethereal sounds of Baars’ shakuhachi and clarinet find common ground with the delicate arco and pizzicato work of Henneman, Dumitriu and Masafrets. The quartet offers a suggestive, haunting atmosphere on «Rendzine» and improvises on a gentle and engaging melody on «Paarse Hei». […] «Zeeklei» suggests another kind of reserved, unsettling drama and this beautiful album is concluded with the lovely, meditative melody of «Cernoziom».
--Eyal Hareuveni, 15-2-2021 Salt Peanuts

"Once upon a time, three strings and a woodwindler join together to form an improquartet, sounds exciting, sounds good too.
-- haun, april / may 2021, freistill #95