Sonic Fiction Special is German pianist and composer Georg Graewe‘s scaled-down version of his Sonic Fiction Orchestra featuring German clarinetist Frank Gratkowski, violist Laura Strobl, and American drummer-percussionist Gerry Hemingway (who also plays in Graewe’s long-standing trio with Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger, whose debut album was titled Sonic Fiction, hat ART, 1990), augmented by American electronics and alto sax player Earl Howard, who has collaborated before with Graewe, Hemingway and Gratkowski. This ad-hoc quintet was recorded at the LOFT in Cologne in March 2025.
Grawe uses the concept of sonic fiction to describe his musical aesthetics and those of this quintet. They move easily and organically across musical traditions and legacies, carrying with them shared awareness of composition and improvisation. “At times, the music feels
