- Tristan Honsinger
Tristan Honsinger (born October 23, 1949) is a
cello player active infree jazz andfree improvisation . He is perhaps best known for his long-running collaboration withfree jazz pianistCecil Taylor andguitar istDerek Bailey .Born in
Burlington, Vermont , Honsinger was given music lessons from a very early age on, as his mother had hopes of creating a chamber orchestra together with his brother and sister. At the age of 12, Tristan would give concerts on a nearly weekly basis. He studied classical cello at the prestigious New England Conservatory in Boston cite web| accessdate = 2008-08-31|publisher=European Free Improvisation pages |title=Tristan Honsinger |url = http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/mhonsing.html] before moving toMontreal in 1969 to avoid the draft. While inCanada , he became interested in improvisational music. Honsinger moved to Europe in 1974 and was active throughout the continent. He currently operates fromAmsterdam in theNetherlands .Honsinger has a striking appearance, with body language reminiscent of that of a
slapstick actor. His theatrical side surfaces in every combo he has played with.He has experimented with a combo of three string-players (
violin ,cello anddouble bass ) and drums in 1991, under the nameFields in Miniature , and has worked in other musical fields, including collaboarations with UK.post punk bandThe Pop Group in 1979, The Ex during the early 1990s andIg Henneman Tentet. More recently, his groupThis, That and The Other 's influences from Italianfolk music are ever present.According to Dutch "
Volkskrant " journalist Erik van de Berg, "Honsinger is someone who hasn't lost his childhood fantasy entirely. His compositions are like a child's drawing, or even more like a story from "Winnie The Pooh ": awkward and touchingly simple, yet full of deeper meanings for those who want to see them." In the same article, Honsinger commented: "Simple things fascinate me, simple stories and simple characters. It's not that I write for children in particular, but I think they would understand it very well. I usually get the best reactions from an audience with a good mix of children and adults. I don't like to play for one particular age group. It is almost a necessity for me to compose in the form of stories and texts. It gives me ideas and it does help the musicians in their improvisation if they can think: this story is about a little man who takes a walk and experiences this, that and the other. It also helps the audience, it gives them something to hold on to."External links
* [http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/mhonsing.html Discography and biography]
* [http://www.fmp-label.de/freemusicproduction/musiker/honsinger.html Honsingers FMP releases]References
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