Paper Hat - Nine Conversations

This stunning release, Nine Conversations, is a celebration of Improvisation. With little discussion and pre-conception, this recording marks a pinnacle in the lives of its participants and is a unique snapshot into the mind of these fine musicians.

By definition, free improvisation can be anything. Strange then, that many practitioners eschew the options of tonality, rhythm and coherent melody.
Not Melbourne’s Paper Hat. Pianist Colin Hopkins, bassist Frank DiSario and drummer Andrew Gander went into the studio last winter with no plans or preconceptions and spontaneously composed nine “conversations” of arresting lyricism and radiance.

They spend no time hunting for ideas, collectively zeroing in on the first statement of a piece and grabbing it by the throat – however delicately.

A quarter of the time is spent by the opening Requiem, 1minutes of such sadness as the bereaved know only too well, intensified by peculiar beauty that can hover over sadness like a halo, heightening perception.

The cohesion is startling, and all three make their most potent recorded statements to date, the whole comparing favourably with the Keith Jarrett Trio’s brief return to free improvisation a few years ago.

John Shand, SMH