German master pianist-composer-bandleader Georg Graewe feels at home when composing music for chamber outfits, orchestras, operas, or scores for films, theater productions, radio drama and video. Graewe is also a master improviser, known for his long-standing trio with Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger and American drummer-percussionist Gerry Hemingway (now based in Switzerland) that has been working since 1989, or for his recordings with such innovative, master improvisers like Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, Barry Guy, Barre Phillips and John Butcher. Graewe’s rich and profound aesthetics reference the Second Viennese School as it references the American jazz piano legacy, but these references are channeled into a highly personal musical language that balances compositional themes and improvisational freedom in a precise and concise manner.
The Sonic Fiction Orchestra (titled after the first album of Graewe, Reijseger and Hemingway trio, hat ART, 1989) was first introduced at the
