He also has some exceptionally good musicians, notably Elliot Galvin on grand piano. It proved a great successso the opportunity to see the band again was welcome.

He does have a fascinating set-up: the others at the Royal Festival Hall are two harps (Alina Bzhezhinska and Miriam Adefris) electronics / synths (Hinako Omori) plus guest vocals at the end from Eska.

The venue this time is the impressively full Royal Festival Hall. With a simple ‘Hi, good evening, we’re gonna play some music for you’, Shabaka starts solo with a piece which shows how far his flute playing has come – one can hear that immediately, it’s so good.

The music on the album was built around flutes that create different atmospheres with their special origin (whether from Japan or Mexico) and timbre. Live, the harps and electronics give the band an entirely different sound. Galvin plays around this masterfully with his crisp piano and sometimes also brings in some electronics.

Shabaka has completely mastered the flute, especially in his use of breath. And his compositions sound even more lovely live. It makes for a varied and beautiful concert, and a standing ovation after an hour and a half of music.

A first solo encore with a tape of looped music works a little less well (why would you even want to loop when you have such good musicians with you….) but the second, using a double-barrelled flute from ancient Teotihuacan, is just glorious.

(This is UKJN’s English version of Dick Hovenga’s review, originally written in Dutch for Written in Music. )

The post Shabaka first appeared on UK Jazz News.

Several of the tracks on This Is Water feature just the two of them, and that sounds great. And there are some other very fine pieces where four friendly musicians and their very different sound-worlds are added in – Jeff Ballard, Cory Smythe, Marta Warelis and Han Bennink. And it is precisely the opulence of all those different colours and atmospheres that makes This Is Water such a strong album.

It is plain that Baas and van Gelder continue to grow musically through their work together. They have been playing the European jazz circuit for years and are much sought-after musicians. They are both fabulously equipped technically, something which stays front-of-mind because they keep playing adventurously and setting themselves challenges.

It seems as if they have been on the scene for decades, after all, they are among the leading Dutch jazz musicians, and are also making a name for themselves internationally. Yet both men are still only in their mid-30s. And that fact only makes This Is Water all the more impressive.

The album title is a reference to a speech given by American writer David Foster Wallace – who died far too early at the age of 46 – at Kenyon College in 2005. He inspired students to consciously interpret reality and create the freedom to find meaning and freedom in life, Baas and van Gelder have written a set of eleven pieces.

We find pieces that sound super-inspired, driven, adventurous and challenging, and others that are beautifully melodic. The collaborations with fantastic drummer Jeff Ballard and cult hero Cory Smythe, whose incomprehensible set-up gives him an extra dose of keys to use, and then there is the legend that is Han Bennink, with whom Baas and van Gelder have also formed a long-standing trio. These are very strong musical choices.

To find a way of describing This Is Water optimally is almost impossible. Listen to the title track, which is also the album’s opener, and then let the music come through and let yourself be surprised by a salutary jazz record that once again raises the standard of jazz in the Netherlands to a very high level. One of those records that you can listen to again and again and become completely absorbed in.

With an album title that refers to the speech given by the American writer David Foster Wallace – who died far too early- at Kenyon College in 2005, where he inspired students to consciously interpret reality and create the freedom to find meaning and freedom in life, Baas and van Gelder have written 11 pieces.

Pieces that are super-inspired. Driven, adventurous and challenging, which can also sound beautifully melodic. The collaborations with fantastic drummer Jeff Ballard and cult hero Cory Smythe, who has an extra dose of keys at his disposal due to an incomprehensible set-up, as well as the legend that is Han Bennink (with whom Baas and van Gelder have also formed a trio for a long time) are very strong musical choices.

Naturally it is difficult to avoid identifying favourite tracks from one’s early listens. The title track is masterful and “Glass”, a little further on the album, is equally majestic. The ways in which Baas and van Gelder are able to hit you hard with these tracks really is something quite out of the ordinary.

The pieces with Jeff Ballard are incredibly hard-hitting, and the collaboration with Smythe brings genuine excitement. The pair of pieces called “Skull-Sized Kingdom” bring out some real dynanism. And the piece with Han Bennink (and pianist Maria Warelis) combines its wayward spirit with both seductiveness and emotion.

This Is Water puts the best of Dutch jazz back into the spotlight. Although Baas and van Gelder also make their separate albums, and their projects/bands DeadEye (Baas) and Manifold (van Gelder) are fantastic too, their collaborations together are particularly special.

This Is Water is their best album so far and is highly recommended. Go see them live too!

(*) This is an English version of the original Dutch review which Dick Hovenga wrote for Written in Music – LINK

The post Reinier Baas & Ben van Gelder – ‘This Is Water’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.

The Barbican was the ideal place. The sound there is always fantastic and almost every seat gives you an excellent view of everything happening on stage. Gibbons and her band of musicians played, as they did on Wednesday, her recently released first solo album “Lives Outgrown” almost in its entirety, in a slightly different order from on the record, and with a couple of tracks from “Rustin Man” intermingled in the set.

It’s a stunning set of songs, incomparably adventurous, exciting and intriguing. And just like the Wednesday before, Gibbons takes each track to emotional heights with her singing, and has a great instinct for what each of the musicians will need to make every moment in every song count. The record has incredible layering, but the musicians pack even more punch live. And the songs grow even more as they play them with each night. It’s what happens with a group of very classy instrumentalists who also have a genuine feeling and a lot of love for Gibbons’s songs.

Lives Outgrown is a masterpiece and all of the songs are both exciting and emotionally affecting. From the very first notes of “Tell Me Who You Are Today”, the listener is once again fully immersed in the musical framework that Gibbons – with former Talk Talk drummer Lee Harris – set out on the album. With brilliant songs like “Floating on a Moment” (that guitar line building up to the chorus is insane), “Lost Changes”, “Oceans, For Sale” and the rousing “Beyond the Sun”, once again they put down an unparalleled, moving and beautiful set.

And then. when all the tears seem to have been shed on beautiful set-closer “Whispering Love”, in the encore they cap it all with the most beautiful version of Portishead’s “Roads” I have ever heard. Pared down and with no percussion, it gets set in motion with a masterful bass line from Tom Herbert, and after that a keyboard part which is instantly recognisable. Gibbons sings the song to heavenly heights with her so melancholic comforting voice. With “Reaching Out”, the band then turns up the heat for one last time and then it’s over.

Beth Gibbons and her band at The Barbican in London were as peerless and moving as in Utrecht. And going back to my first words: to go and see something that hits so hard again so quickly will usually end in disappointment. Tonight, that was not the case at all. Not at all, in fact. “Lives Outgrown” is an undisputed masterpiece and this pair of concerts will stay in my mind as an experience of the very best and most emotional in live music.

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The announcement came in February that “Promises”, the masterpiece by the UK’s Floating Points and by American saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, would be performed live, and just once. It was without doubt one of this year’s most surprising concert announcements, not least because Pharoah Sanders the spiritual jazz legend had passed away on 24 September last year.

But then it turned out that Pharoah Sanders and UK saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings had been in touch for some time, and had even become good friends. Sanders saw in Shabaka the keeper of the flame for the spiritual jazz he loved so much. At the same time he would an ideal ‘replacement’ for a one-off performance of the album Promises. So ‘Promises live’ became Floating Points with Shabaka Hutchings.

Of course, on hearing that the one-off concert would take place in Los Angeles, doubts started to hit home: spending all that money to go all the way to Los Angeles for one concert? Conclusion: life is short, way too short, just get on with it: book the ticket and don’t think too much about it (ahem…).

And that was how it happened that on Wednesday night, 20 September, we witnessed that one-off performance of “Promises” in the magnificent outdoor stage setting of the Hollywood Bowl, full to its 17,500 capacity.

Opening the concert, and very aptly, was the Sun Ra Arkestra, a jazz collective that fits perfectly into any conceivable concert format where adventurous and mind-blowing music is possible. Space is the Place was again the theme (like every Sun Ra concert of recent decades) and the music was wonderfully intoxicating.

The big band, 13 musicians in total, always plays freely, sometimes – it seems – right through and across each other, then super-tight, but always completely individualistic. It is also always a pleasure to see them, because each concert is unpredictable and there are always surprising elements – on this occasion musicians doing somersaults and cartwheels on stage. It was a very successful opening.

Music is and always will be a wonderful experience, but one of its mysteries is that you normally don’t normally know when the emotions are going to kick in. But what I knew beforehand was that the first notes of “Promises” would hit me hard. Those first harpsichord/organ tones, which are going to keep coming back throughout the entire piece, are going to resonate majestically in the head…which they duly did. The opening came in rock hard. No doubt partly because of the awareness of just being there in this astonishing environment, and also because the sound of the ‘hall’ is so fantastically tuned.

“Promises”, then, is a fascinatingly set-up piece of music, and that is not only because of Sanders’ amazing playing, but also because of the genius way electronica, jazz and classical are combined into something which is musically completely new. Sam Shepard had already been labelled a great talent with his first Floating Points records; with “Promises” he proved to be a musical genius.

The first thing that immediately stands out at the live show is how good Shabaka sounds. And what feeling he puts into his playing and how individual he sounds, while at the same time following on from Sanders’s playing. Truly every note he blows is emotionally charged and enriches the music. So what might have seemed a risky venture beforehand, following in the footsteps of Pharoah Sanders, turns out exceptionally well.

The band on stage is so impressive. Alongside Shepard is keyboardist John Escreet, Kieran Hebden from Four Tets, Dan Snaith (Caribou) and Kara-Lis Coverdale, and what a string orchestra they have behind them on stage as well. These are not the London players from the album but musicians from Los Angeles, conducted by the celebrated Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.


The way they play “Promises” take it to imposingly new heights. What a comprehensive and impressive piece of music Shepard has written and what – in retrospect even more so – fantastic spotlight he gave Pharoah Sanders. Shabaka, humble, shares in the spirit of Pharoah with the very best playing I’ve heard from him so far (and I’ve seen him a lot over the past few years!).

Before we realise it, as if in a dream, the extended composition sweeps over us with all its imposing minimalist interludes. As imposing as it is impressive, as movingly beautiful as it is adventurous. After all the times I have already listened to “Promises” with breathless excitement and gone on discovering new depths in it again and again, I do so again tonight.

With 17,500 very attentive music lovers, always with exactly the right encouragement at the right time, “Promises” fell fantastically into place live in this fascinating outdoor venue. It was enchanting to hear Promises come fully to life in a ‘new’ version on this balmy late-summer evening. As special as the concert is and was, getting up the next day and reliving thoughts of this legendary evening is just as special. These are them, the concerts you dream about for months, and then they bring even more than you had already hoped for. A glorious concert.

Shabaka Hutchings & Floating Points played at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on 20 September 2023.

This is UKJN’s English-language version of the review published in Dutch at Written in Music.

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It is mainly their musical conceptions that make both de Looze and Koo so special. Always opting for adventure and challenge, for both themselves and the listener, they rise unstoppably, fearlessly blurring any boundaries between classical and jazz. Their training is classical, jazz their great love, and they revel in the freedom of jazz to blend with the richness in melody and technique of classical music. Consequently, something special and new emerges on Etudes for Piano.

As a student at the NYU Steinhardt, Koo played with the New York jazz giants, saxophonist Mark Turner and trumpeter Ralph Alessi, sowing the seeds for a great career. Already technically very gifted, he continues to grow so fast as a musician that it’s mind-boggling.

Etudes for Piano is a solo piano album like no other. Commissioned by the Bozar concert hall in Brussels, Koo wrote eight rich compositions that show why he is a giant on the piano. His fabulous technique, sounding downright genius at times, is the basis for this dizzying tour de force of an album. He is also a superbly original composer.

Balancing between jazz and classical, often extending into the contemporary, Koo creates a musical world that is challenging and both melancholic and downright exciting. From the classic opening sounds of “All Arms on Deck!” to the emotive album finale, “DbREAM”, Koo takes the listener on a musical rollercoaster.  

The way he takes the simple idea behind “Variations on The Easiest Song in The World” into a new musical world is definitely the work of a great pianist.

Even on a subdued piece like “Satiesfied”, Koo builds from a classical idea (the compositional influences are quite clear) adding compellingly rich jazz structures with matchless beauty. Closing composition “DbREAM” is full of power and emotion and adds to Etudes for Piano’s singular quality. Everything about this album is right. Koo’s compositions and playing are absolutely world-class. Excellently recorded by Dieter Claeys, it has a sparkling and direct sound. It’s an album that should not go unheard by any jazz fan, an album of unparalleled class.

This is our English version of Dick Hovenga’s review which originally appeared in Dutch on the Written in Music site (LINK).

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Mommaas is a Dutch musician, but he has been living for decades in New York, at the heart of jazz. It was the pandemic that got him writing, and more specifically the idea of unlocking a musical treasure-chest, the compositions of Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), and to write his own music using the French composer as his inspiration. It took him a total of three quiet months to write the eight pieces which we now hear on The Impressionist.

Mommaas’s mother is a classical musician – from the fourth generation of musicians in her family. His father was a well-known visual artist who adored jazz. As a musician, Marc Mommaas himself chose the freedom of jazz…and has devoted his life to it. However, with the sudden reflections brought about by the pandemic and the changing sounds which the big city was sending in his direction, it was classical music which inspired him.

While he was writing, he immediately realised not only that he really wanted to work with a specific group of musicians, but also which instruments should be present. No drums, for instance. He found his ideal band in the great guitarist Nate Radley, pianist Gary Versace and double bassist Jay Anderson. They were all musicians he had played with before, but never together in the same band.

The chemistry between the musicians, the challenges they present each other with, and the sublime way they play together mean they are able to extract an incredible amount from the compositions. The record is an absolute delight for the ear, it immediately touches the heart,right from the 10-minute-plus album opener Nostalgia, and onwards without the level of inspiration coming off the boil in any way, right through to the closing track “Moving On”.

Mommaas has written brilliant pieces. The melodic lines are timeless, and the four musicians play them in such a loose and free way, you can almost forget how good they really are. The listener is completely captivated by the musical story as it unfolds. This is absolute jazz richness.

The Impressionist showcases a composer and musician at the top of his game. What a treat to hear these compositions: the rich melodies, exquisite playing and ingenious arrangements. Mommaas has packed so much that is both touching and intriguing into eight fascinating and timeless compositions.

Alongside Radley, Versace and Anderson whose playing is truly top class, it is above all Mommaas who raises his performance to incredible heights. He plays with astonishing technical assuredness, and the kind of ever-present intensity which is rare. Truly, every note he plays reaches the listener’s emotions, not single one is wasted. Far from his homeland, Mommaas has refined and perfected his playing in his own individual way, and has become one of the defining tenor and soprano saxophonists of today’s jazz.

Marc Mommaas’ The Impressionist (alongside the fantastic Amaryllis & Belladonna double album from Mary Halvorson, and also Fergus McCreadie’s magisterial Forest Floor) is the 2022 jazz album you can buy without the slightest hesitation. So much beauty in jazz is something to be heard far too rarely. This is an album which it is impossible to get tired of.

Dick Hovenga’s original review in Dutch was published by Written in Music

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Being present to witness an album being created from scratch is a magical experience. A first evening when the musicians are finding their way because they have never shared a stage together before, then an evening of exuberantly experiencing the fact that they are playing together, then an evening of reflection in which the search for each other morphs into establishing how far they are in the process – and then the final evening in which everything coincides.

The fourth evening of Jakob Bro, Anders Christensen and Brian Blade in the beautiful Studio 1 of Flagey, Brussels, can safely be called the place where the new album of Jakob Bro found its definitive form. From the first tones of Bro you could feel that this was going to be a perfect set. The search to find a balance in all of the pieces, the way each should be played, all that had already been settled. A new album was born.

Really everything about Sunday night, the fourth night, was right. The sound was once again perfect (what a joy that both the musicians on stage and the audience in the hall can hear everything that is happening) and the musicians were not just relaxed but also focused.

The entire arsenal of compositions which had been tried out on the previous night took a definite shape on this evening. Bro had worked his way into an extraordinarily creative mood during these days in Brussels, trying out new pieces every day, and this evening was no different. So on the last evening we just got a beautifully atmospheric new piece to end the programme with. Bizarrely enough, it was also among the most gorgeous things we heard.

A lot more has been recorded over the past few days than will fit on a single album. The mix of subdued pieces and more groovy pieces (that can’t be helped with Christensen on bass and Blade on drums) will find its form in the coming weeks at home in Copenhagen when listening back. I’m very curious to find out what will come out of that process.

The great class of the musicians individually and their exceptional chemistry together could be experienced for four evenings. It was an extraordinary experience to gain that kind of insight into the recording an album.

Some people were smart enough to come on the first or second night and also catch a later one. That was absolutely the way to do it. You saw completely different concerts for four nights and those who were there for more than one night will have different memories of which one was their favorite.

Looking back now, it was the second night which was the most exciting. It was the night when Blade, well rested after his long trip from Louisiana the day before, and which led straight into the first concert, gathered together his true force, and really gave the trio wings with his great drumming. It was also the evening on which Christensen played his beautiful bass lines nice and deep and where Bro sounded really solid in the heavier parts and drew the trio into psychedelic spheres.

That second evening where the subdued pieces contrasted exceptionally well with the heavier pieces can, as far as I’m concerned, go down in the books as one of the most beautiful Bro concerts ever. The Sunday can go down in the books as the day on which everything that had been tried and tested the previous three days fell completely into place. This was a more or less the perfect concert, in which the musicians played loose and free and had fully mastered the form of the compositions.

The fact that Flagey is such a perfect place to record an album has been clear for a long time. All the right conditions are in place, from the location to the superb team who work there. The four days of trying out this new concept with Bro, Christensen and Blade was an exceptional musical experience. And, since it was also the opening event of Flagey’s new music season, it felt even more special. It would be a pity if this concept doesn’t become a permanent fixture in Flagey’s annual programme. I’ll certainly be there for it every time!

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