Jazz music of Netherlands

The North Sea Jazz festival brought musicians from international commendation.

Misha Mengelberg who was born on June 5, 1935 is a jazz pianist and composer. He was the person that played the piano on Eric Dolphy’s last album in the year 1964. Han Bennink was also featured on that record as the drummer and together with Piet Noordijik and they make a quartet which had a number of diverse bassists. They performed at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966. In 1967 he co-established the Instant Composers Pool, an organization that sponsored the Avanti- garde Dutch jazz performances and recordings with Han Bennink and Willem breaker.

source of picture: en.wikipedia.org 

Mengelberg has played for a large number of artists. He has frequently performed in a duo with compatriot Bennink and with other artists like Peter Brotzmann, Anthony Braxton, Derek Bailey and Evan Parker.

Han Bennink who was born on April 17, 1942 is a jazz drummer, percussionist and multi-instrumentalist. Throughout 1960s he drummed with series of American artists that visit Netherlands including Sonny Rollins, Dexeter Gordon and Eric Dolphy. He later became a key figure in the developing European free improvisation or free jazz scene. In the late 60s he played in a trio with saxophonist Peter Brotzmann and Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove became the duo after the exist of Van Hove’s in 1976. Through the 1990s he played in Clusone 3 which is also known as the Clusone Trio, a trio with saxophonists and clarinetist Michael Moore and cellist Ernst Reijseger. He also frequently plays duos with Mengelberg and collaborated with him alongside other artists.

As well as playing for many groups, Bennink has performed and recorded solo like tempo Comodo in 1982 and played with many free improvisation and free jazz celebrities include Conny Bauter, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Derek Bailey and Don Cherry as well as more conventional jazz artists.

Willem Breuker who was born on November 4, 1944 was a jazz bandleader, composer saxophonist, arranger and bass clarinetist.  Since in the 1974 he led the 10 piece Willem Breiker Kollektief which performed jazz music in a dramatic pattern and frequently unusual manner of drawing elements from theater and vaudeville.