Trikolon - Cluster (Reissue) (1969/2003)

The late 60's were an era of experimentation, the Blues Based Rock & Roll was no longer enough for young musicians who wanted to go further, genres as Psychedelia and early Progressive Rock were already expanding the concept of Rock and taking it to limits that the pioneers never dreamed of. In this changing moment a German trio called TRIKOLON emerged in the scene.

The band formed by Hendrik Schaper (Keyboards, Trumpet, vocals), Rolf Rettberg (Bass) and he percussionist Ralf Schmieding gained fame in Germany as virtuoso musicians and soon they decided to self finance and press a live album, so they recorded their only LP called Cluster that saw the light in 1969 (only 150 copies), where they blend elements of Rock Psychedelia, Classical Music and even Jazz, with skills and adventurous spirit.

My first impression was to add them to the Psych/Space Rock database, but there was much more behind this power trio. Themes like Hendrik's Easy Groove showed their passion for Classical and Psyche blend, while Blue Rondo took the music of Mozart/Brubeck where THE NICE left it adding a clear jazzy feeling (That Shaper and Rettberg of them would develop more a couple years later), neglecting the format of conventional psych-pop songs in favor of longer and well elaborate epics, what makes of TRIKOLON a perfect candidate for Krautrock.

Sadly the group disbanded soon after the release of their debut, but Hendrik Schaper and Rolf Rettberg carried the spirit of TRIKOLON to TETRAGON even when giving priority to the relation between Jazz and Rock.

To summarize, TRIKOLON is an excellent band specially recommended to Prog listeners who enjoy the fusion of Psychedelia, Jazz and Classical music that contributed to the development of Krautrock.