Paper hat reviews;

With this mesmerising album, three Melbourne musicians display such heightened communication that at times it is difficult to believe the nine 'compositions' are spontaneously improvised.
Eschewing the more strident sounds associated with much-aligned free jazz, bassist Frank Di Sario, pianist Colin Hopkins and drummer Andrew Gander display miraculous sensitivity.
The melodies and subtle, sinuous grooves tumble forth as the musicians betray no sense of hesitancy , no impression of working their way out of blind alleys.
Bravely, they put the two longest items Requiem (17 minutes) and Where it ends (12 minutes) at the start. The wish for more variety invites improvisational use of the shuffle facility.
The superb engineering of Mal Stanley seals the success of a life-enhancing listen.

Kenny Weir -Sunday Herald Sun. July 30,2006; 4 Stars

This is not one of those unstructured, totally improvised albums that lapses into sound effects and repetitive patterns as a substitute for inspiration. The liner notes for pianist Colin Hopkins' Melbourne trio mention using paper hats at parties, to signal that the usual rules may be abandoned, a fitting analogy for experimental music. Some tracks use out of tempo passages, but mostly the works are rhythmic, although some employ unusual time signatures. The longest track, Requiem, opens with flowing piano surrounded by growing activity from Frank Di Sario's acoustic bass and embellishment from Andrew Gander on drums, before a hand drumming solo introduces a second movement, developing into a contemporary groove. Hopkins' piano continually produces interesting themes and ideas, from the wild swinging of I think I Left My Phone On to the contemplative certitude of To Start, To Hesitate, To Stop. A wonderfully inventive trio, superbly recorded by the ABC.

Four stars (out of Five) John McBeath Weekend Australian July 1, 2006

To purchase the CD of Paper hat's 9 Coversations, or to read John Shands' SMH review, please visit

www.rufusrecords.com.au


Peter Knight's new CD "All the gravitation of Silence" is now available through Jazzhead. It features Peter Knight, Tony Floyd, Stephen Magnusson, Colin Hopkins and myself. For more infomation please visit;

peterknightmusic.com

www.jazzhead.com/allthegravitation







Frank is proud to announce that one of his tunes Arthur Boyd will be featured on a new ABC FM 30th anniversary double CD.
The CD will comprise of the music of many dead composers, so it will be nice to see the name of a living composer among them!
For a preview, you can go to my CD page and listen to an sample.
Enjoy!