When the words “experiment” and “music” are used together I usually know what to expect. An experiment is just that, an attempt at something in which the actual results are not totally known. It may be interesting, even groundbreaking, or it may be a failure. Australian avant-garde violinist Jon Rose loves to experiment. His album Fringe Benefits is a two disc, 29 tracks collection of experiments from 1977 to 1988 ranging from brilliant to “WTF!”. Fortunately for the listener, very few of these tracks can be called boring.

The tracks tend to fall into not-so-well-defined areas. Many of them are played on prepared instruments such as a 19 stringed violin or complex installations involving violins and other apparatus. Others can be loosely called field recordings but are essentially duets with nature. A couple of the more interesting are “Cattle Train and Violin” or “Fly trapped in violin”. I was especially amused with “Chinese 1:4 violin with 50 feeding parrots”. Some tracks are more conventional, as if that word can be used regarding the eccentricities of this artist. One cut, “The Relative Band 1984″ involves Rose’s continuing collaboration with other like minded improvising musicians. The string trio might actually be considered a conventional composition at least by post-classical standards. Finally I enjoyed Rose’s rendition of Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” reminding me of the tongue-in-cheek “America Drinks and Goes Home” by Frank Zappa. Rose shows some good jazz chops but Ray Nance and Stuff Smith need not be worried. Overall, this large collection will bewilder some and dismay others but hopefully some will be fascinated by the wide range of ideas that are explored in this avant-garde retrospective.

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