cluster

• Format: CD, album reissue, expanded edition, stereo
• Recording: Recorded live to two-track tape at the House of the Youth in Osnabrück, without overdubs or post-production
• Bonus Track: “Fuge,” a previously unreleased 22-minute live recording
• Packaging: Jewel case with a 32-page illustrated booklet featuring the band’s history, photographs and discographical information

Trikolon were an exceptionally accomplished progressive-rock trio from Osnabrück and the direct predecessor of Tetragon. Formed by keyboard player Hendrik Schaper, bassist Rolf Rettberg and drummer Ralf Schmieding, the group developed an adventurous sound drawing on psychedelic rock, jazz improvisation, blues and classical music.

Cluster was captured during a concert in Osnabrück in 1969 using a simple two-track tape recorder. The musicians subsequently arranged the pressing themselves, producing only 150 copies. The limited equipment gives the recording a raw underground atmosphere, but it also preserves the immediacy and energy of the trio’s performance without overdubs, editing or studio refinement.

Hendrik Schaper dominates the album with organ, piano, trumpet and occasional vocals. His intense keyboard work is supported by Rettberg’s fluid and frequently prominent bass and Schmieding’s powerful, precise drumming. Despite the absence of guitar, the trio creates an unusually full sound, moving between tightly arranged themes and long sections of spontaneous improvisation.

“In Search Of The Sun” opens with distorted organ, forceful vocals and an extended psychedelic development. “Trumpet For Example” introduces Schaper’s trumpet and moves towards jazz-rock, while “Hendrik’s Easy Groove” places greater emphasis on piano, rhythm and open-ended ensemble playing.

“Blue Rondo” is the original album’s most classically influenced performance, combining familiar melodic ideas with driving organ, rolling drums and lengthy instrumental passages. The expanded CD concludes with “Fuge,” a twenty-two-minute adaptation based around Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fugue in D minor, extended through organ, electric piano, bass and drum improvisations.

Trikolon later added a guitarist and changed their name to Tetragon, recording the equally collectible album Nature. This Garden of Delights edition restores one of the earliest German private progressive-rock recordings and supplements it with extensive historical documentation.

Track Listing

1. In Search Of The Sun – 14:31
2. Trumpet For Example – 7:22
3. Hendrik’s Easy Groove – 11:05
4. Blue Rondo – 10:30
5. Fuge – 22:22 – bonus track