Peter Rom Trio

Says Who?!

JWR 02/05


1. Kafka’s Humor (P. Rom)
2. Hundred Years (R. Preuschl)
3. It’s A Jungle Out There (P. Rom)
4. Offshore (Rom/Preuschl)
5. Mixed Signals (Rom/Preuschl)
6. Balance (P. Rom)
7. Nebulos (P. Rom)
8. Uarrgh 1 (R. Preuschl)
9. Deadline (P. Rom)
10. Falling Down (P. Rom)
11. Says Who?! (P. Rom)

Peter Rom – guitar
Raphael Preuschl – bass
Jörg Mikula – drums

All Tracks Recorded and Mixed by Werner Angerer
Mastered by Reinhard Buchta at Feedback Studios

Arthur Longrapids, 88.1 FM WYCE , January 2006

“Four words to describe this album: Medeski, Martin & Weird. Do we have a J-Jam Band category? Maybe we should. That is to say that this Austrian threesome has the same funky chops as MMW, but tends to get a little more out there, a la Phish. As the jacket art suggests, Rom likes to experiment with the sounds his guitar produces — not just through his artful noodling, but also through the array of digital signal processors strewn about the album cover. That said, he is more of a jazz guitarist than an electronic gearhead, so the effects don’t cover up the quality of his playing. Although this is jazz more than it is anything else, this disc tends to lean further toward Primus than it does Primeau or Parker. Nonetheless, these 11 live-recorded tracks should satisfy both the adventurous jazzophile and the programmer who wishes that WYCE’s motto was Folk, Blues, Rock, Worldbeat and, once in a great while, Jazz.”

Kaska Paluch, www.80bpm.net, December 2005

First I would like to tell you upfront that I have already been exposed to the music of Peter Rom and Band – not from a recording but in a way jazz presents itself the best – at a live-concert. Although it makes no difference in my evaluation of the CD I would still like to mention that I was delighted not only by listening but also by watching how they enjoyed making music together – they also seemed very well rehearsed which ultimately affected their sound.

Says Who?! is just the long awaited CD-recording of actions and ideas by the Peter Rom Trio, that I was missing, when I went home after the live-concert and wanted to extend the musical celebration. I had come to know the musicians as passionate and open to experiments and I was anxious to find those qualities which I liked so much on the CD. I am writing this only half-serious, but still it was reassuring to find that Says Who?! contained a few dozen minutes of the wild jazz I had become fond of.

Now, what is behind those terms? First of all strong distinctions. There is definitly no short supply on improvisation, soloing or sophisticated scales, all of which we would expect of a pure Jazz performance. A bigger part of the music of the Peter Rom Trio also contains Funk elements next to delicate abstractions. A strong characteristic of the group is also the selection of sounds, for example Peter´s guitar making a statement with short chords and longer phrasings interrupted by cues of the other instruments. The result is a permanent dialog between the musicians with room for almost-monologues of the Drummer (Bravo to Jörg!). While the music of Says Who?! is definitely no Easy Listining and one cannot whistle the melodic lines of the songs in a dentist´s waiting room, it is not at all exhausting although it requires some attention of the listener. If somebody gets exhausted by the twisted sounds anyway he will be served a Chill Out containing a few ballads by the Peter Rom Trio.

Says Who?! is a selection of what I became fond of at the concert and what I wanted to hear on the Debut CD. I sense why the interpretation of the Prince song which threw me on the grass at the live show (it was an open air concert) is missing on the CD, by the way in consideration of the rest of the songs the loss isn´t all that great and I am sure it will be repeated at the next Live-opportunity which – I hope – will lead the Peter Rom Trio to Poland very soon.
Again it has turned out that in my view the Trio from Vienna ist destined for success.