Time to go Dutch
Let’s start with the granddaddy of the Dutch jazz world, the incomparable ICP Orchestra. Their recordings may be a little hard to find but they are well worth seeking out.
And move on to one of the masterminds behind the ICP Orchestra and the godfather of Dutch jazz, pianist Misha Mengelberg. On this recording he visits Chicago and many great players, both young and old, stop by to pay their respects.
We continue along to the bastard step child of Dutch jazz and drummer extraordinaire, the one and only Han Bennink, featured here in a duet with pianist Myra Melford. If Han was American he would easily be considered one of the greatest drummers of all time.
Bennink has been recording for a long time and has been involved in many, many projects and groups. One of my favorite of these groups is the Clusone Trio and this may be their finest recording.
Please note that there many more wonderful Dutch jazz musicians who passed through the ICP Orchestra, like Ab Baars, Eric Boeren, Tristan Honsinger and Wolter Wierbos to name a few. And needless to say, they are all worth hearing.
Okay so that’s one side of the busy Dutch scene but wait, there’s even more like the more straight ahead sounding New Cool Collective
Which leads us to the work of one of the leaders of the New Cool Collective, alto sax player Benjamin Herman. On this recording he pay tribute to his teacher and idol the great pianist Jaki Byard
