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 the 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. 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. Line-up / Musicians Hendrik Schaper/keyboards,trumpet,vocals Rolf Rettberg/bass Ralf Schmieding/drums Discography Cluster 1969
1.In Search for the Sun 2.Trumpet for Example 3.Hendrik's Easy Groove 4.Blue Rondo
