David Sanborn recently passed away at the age of 78. He was a versatile saxophonist and won several Grammys during his career. Reason enough for programme maker and saxophonist Tom Beek to dedicate a programme to him.

Saturday May 18th, 5:00 PM – House of Hard Bop. Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson (1941-2016) started recording records under his own name for Blue Note Records in 1963. The label soon gave him carte blanche. Alfred Lion, one of the founders of Blue Note: “Listen, you make all the albums you want. Just call me and you can record.” The counter will increase to more than twenty titles (1977). In 1968, tenorist Harold Land stood next to Hutcherson in the studio, as co-leader. The result is the album Total Eclipse; five pieces that move stylistically smoothly between hard bop and beyond – towards previously untrodden territory. The vibraphone was one of the less popular instruments in the 1960s. Yes, there was Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, but one of the first to bring the vibraphone into the new style developments was Bobby Hutcherson (photo). In 1963 it was altoist Jackie McLean who replaced the piano in his quintet with Hutcherson’s vibraphone. One Step Beyond was the title of that Blue Note record. And a year later it is Eric Dolphy who goes one step further stylistically in his masterpiece Out to Lunch! Also no piano, Hutcherson on the vibes. (“Out” here means: outside the boundaries of the conventional rules of the game. “Beyond”, a similar meaning.) In addition to Hutcherson and Land, the quintet line-up on Total Eclipse consists of pianist Chick Corea – here in the early stages of his career -, bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Joe Chambers. We previously heard tenorist Harold Land in House of Hard Bop (on April 20, 2024) in the quintet of Clifford Brown & Max Roach. That was 1955. Since then his development has not stood still. Its elastic tone formation is in balanced contrast with the ‘cool’ sound of the vibes. Herzog The average Herzog is the spicy opening of the series. The three soloists hand over their calling cards, accompanied by timekeepers Johnson and Chambers. The energy radiates from it. Do we hear a Coltrane influence here and there in Harold Land’s solo? Total Eclipse Cooling down – slow tempo, theme with broad tones, meditative atmosphere. But…it doesn’t stay that way. Matrix Four of the five pieces are by Hutcherson, Matrix is by Chick Corea. It is on his album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, which he recorded a few months earlier. The theme opens with two deceptively simple melody lines: an ascending major scale, starting on the third, which, after an interruption by piano and drums, returns downwards to the root note, now with a minor third. Sounds simple, but it works! All this, by the way, is rhythmically richly shaped. The up tempo is back. The underlying shape is that of a 12-moderate ‘blues’, but this is cunningly camouflaged. Unacceptable behavior That qualification concerns the last piece of the album, Pompeian, and is intended here in a positive way. Flute and marimba are new timbres. The crossing of boundaries concerns other musical parameters. Let us surprise you! A year later, in 1969, Blue Note published the album Medina. The same line-up, but now Stanley Cowell is at the piano. Three pieces, Avis, Come Spring and Dave’s Chant complete this highly interesting hour. (Given Hutcherson’s photo on the LP cover, his head hair grew simultaneously with his musical development. Come on, raise your head again. He died of emphysema.) House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke

Saturday May 11th, 2024, 8:00 PM – Musicians Corner. Today, programme maker Carolien Schönfeld gives all the space to her guest: pianist/composer/bandleader Robert Vermeulen. In addition to his own ensemble work, Vermeulen plays music from favorite sources of inspiration: Misha Mengelberg (photo), Steve Lacy, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and…Igor Stravinsky. Who’s Bridge We meet pianist Misha Mengelberg (1935-2017), the ‘Great Disruptor’, in 1994 in a trio band with bassist Brad Jones and drummer Joey Baron. His composition Who’s Bridge is a no-nonsense melody in a standard song form, supported by obvious harmonies. Of course it can’t stay that way – from the second improvisation chorus onwards things start to get out of hand, with harmony and metre being pushed aside. This is how we know our Mengelberg. The two supervisors adhere unperturbed to the schedule, something that always creates a pleasant tension. For those who do not (yet) know Mengelberg, this piece is a suitable starter. Steve Lacy – Thelonious Monk The music of Thelonious Monk was a revelation for Misha Mengelberg. This also applies to the American soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy (1934-2004). (And for Robert Vermeulen.) In 1958 Lacy went into the studio for his album Reflections-Steve Lacy Plays Thelonious Monk. He had already rehearsed more than thirty pieces by Monk and listened to his records hundreds of times. Reflections is the first LP on which a musician exclusively interprets Monk’s work. Immediately after the record’s release, Lacy brought a copy to his idol. Lacy: “He appreciated the album a lot.” And even better: when Monk asked him to play in his quintet, he couldn’t believe his luck. Four in One is a tricky theme, with phrases of sixteenth notes (four pulses per beat). Hence the title. In addition to Lacy, the quartet consists of pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Buell Neidlinger and drummer Elvin Jones. In the 1980s, Steve Lacy and Misha Mengelberg collaborated. They recorded Monk compositions in various line-ups. Three kindred spirits. Igor Stravinsky Stravinsky, creator of highbrow composed art music, emigrated from Europe to the United States in 1939. To boost his poor bank balance, he composed a number of pieces that could bring in money. One of these is Tango from 1940. It is an atypical piece for Stravinsky. Regularity and symmetry predominate: continuous four-quarter time, phrases of eight bars, clear and hardly changing key. Despite the typically Stravinskian syncopation, it is still danceable. There are various arrangements of Tango, ranging from piano solo to orchestra. —————————————- Talking Cows and Under Construction are two ensembles, led by pianist Robert Vermeulen. You will hear a total of two pieces. Let us surprise you! Details and Playlist in the Guide. Musicians Corner – Carolien Schönfeld

Saturday May 4th, 2024, 10:00 PM – Deep Jazz. Deep Jazz is a programme by bassist and musicologist Hans Mantel. He presents a wide range of appealing jazz every week, from historical to contemporary. Each piece is provided with relevant, substantive information. Mantel also draws from his personal treasure trove, filled with wonderful anecdotes. You will hear music by altoist Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley with pianist Bill Evans, Miles Davis with orchestra, and vocalist/pianist Diana Krall. Waltz for Debby Pianist Bill Evans composed this ‘waltz’ in 1956. The piece, dedicated to his niece Debby, became a standard. Evans and altoist Adderley worked together in Miles Davis’ quintet in 1959, in the line-up that created the iconic album Kind of Blue. Now, in 1961, they meet to record the album Know What I Mean? in the name of Cannonball Adderley. Bassist Percy Heath  and drummer Connie Kay – the mainstays of the Modern Jazz Quartet – complete the group. The opening, a solo by Evans, can hardly be called an intro. He plays the complete piece, and only then the intro. The three-quarter time of the waltz then makes way for a meter in four. Enter altoist Adderley, with his well-known, ‘jubilant’ tone. This Adderley record is one of the few recordings where there is no second horn player – a trumpet player – at the front. The entire album exudes a pleasantly light, relaxed atmosphere. This even seems to be expressed in the title of a Gershwin composition, also on this record: Who Cares? Miles Davis’ Summertime We also hear that relaxed atmosphere in Summertime, one of the pieces from Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. For this 1958 production, Davis (photo) collaborates with arranger/bandleader Gil Evans. The two get along well musically. Evans is certainly not an average arranger. He likes ‘mixing colours’; less often he contrasts different orchestral groups such as brass/reed instruments. Evans has done a lot of tinkering with George Gershwin’s original score. Davis stays close to the melody in his solo – with mute, a damper. In the orchestra we find: Cannonball Adderley, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. Three musicians who are in the studio together a year later for Davis’ Kind of Blue. “I’ll String Along with You You may not be an angel, ‘Cause angels are so few, But until the day that one comes along, I’ll string along with you.” This is what vocalist/pianist Diana Krall sings in 1999 on her award-winning album When I look in Your Eyes. It takes little effort for Krall to reach the music-sensitive listener. Soft, but inescapable. Also in this hour: Bill Charlap, Milt Jackson, João Gilberto, Michael Brecker, and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis orchestra. Details in the Guide. Deep Jazz – Hans Mantel

Our new radio station with jazz and world music starts on April 30 The Concertzender launches a second online channel, World of Jazz, at 10:00 CET on International Jazz Day, April 30. The first broadcast is a special episode of Co de Kloets programme inJazz Radio. This programme is completely in line with the mission of the new channel, it is filled with live music by jazz band Narrative and fado singer Magda Mendes.

Saturday April 27th, 2024, 8:00 PM – Jazz Piano. Pianist Sullivan Fortner (1986) grew up in New Orleans. He is one of the many jazz musicians for whom church music is one of the earliest sources of inspiration. His mother is a choir conductor – Sullivan climbed onto the organ bench at the age of seven. When he spreads his wings in a later phase, things go fast. At the age of 24 he plays in the quintet of trumpeter Roy Hargrove. In 2015 he made his recording debut as a leader: Aria (Impulse! Records). Solo Game (2023, Artwork Records) is his fourth album. His choice of repertoire shows his roots in the jazz tradition. In addition – and at the same time – he profiles himself with new routes in unknown territory. Thelonious Monk’s I Mean You is on the 2015 album Aria. In a quartet line-up with sax, bass and drums, Fortner immediately adapts the theme to his will, including a metric shift. The improvisations include some cunningly packaged Monk quotes. The ‘groupiness’ content of the quartet is high. Duke Ellington receives a tribute on the album Moments Preserved (2018). In a Sentimental Mood also gets a Fortner treatment, but the mood is retained in the theme. The B part of the form, the bridge, contains a remarkable reversal: the melody shifts to the bass, while the – idiosyncratic – accompaniment sounds in the high register. An ‘orchestral’ effect that we do not often hear in jazz piano. This raises the question: why, in jazz, are the lower registers on a keyboard instrument used so little for melodic functions? Cute (Solo Game) offers a quick change in textures, including a contrapuntal left hand. This is not at the expense of clarity. A musical and pianistic tour de force. In total you will hear eight pieces, and an interview with Fortner. Solo Game contains 2 CDs. The first one features piano work. On CD 2 we enter a new universe. Fortner taps from other musical sources and goes all out instrumentally. In addition to piano, he plays Fender Rhodes, Hammond B3, Moog, Celesta, Triangel, Chimes, Drums, Egg Shaker, Mongolian Gong and other percussion material. A hand clapper also joins. Those pieces are outside this programme. Yes, he’s really something, that Sullivan.

Saturday April 20th, 2024, 5:00 PM – House of Hard Bop. Jazz has many legendary tandems and ensembles: Charlie Parker with Dizzy Gillespie (Bird & Dizz), the quintets of Miles Davis with John Coltrane, The Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond, and closer to home, the Jacobs brothers with Rita Reys. The Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet also wrote history in just two and a half years of existence in the mid-1950s. Los Angeles, autumn 1953. Drummer Max Roach is given the opportunity to put together a quintet – a long series of bookings is guaranteed by the impresario. Roach brings 23-year-old trumpeter Clifford Brown over from the East Coast, where Brown has now proven himself in the Art Blakey Quintet (A Night At Birdland). This sowed the seeds for one of the most important hard bop formations of the 1950s. Brown is able to combine super-fast melodic lines with a clear, warm sound – something that not every trumpet player has. In addition, he is an inexhaustible source of musical ideas and a talent for composition. After a number of successful recordings, recorded on the West Coast, “Brownie” and Roach performed at Capitol Studios in New York in 1955. With Harold Land on tenor, Richie Powell on piano and bassist George Morrow. The result is Study in Brown – a title with a nod to modern painting. Brown, Land and Powell also prove their compositional qualities. * Pianist Powell is responsible for Jacqui, a piece with a ‘tricky’ form, a fascinating and clear percussion story of 36 bars and a surprise at the end. * Clifford Brown’s short and concentrated Swinging takes place in a dazzling up tempo that Powell always seems to have some difficulty with. * Lands End – of course by the tenorist – opens with a rich unison theme in a minor key. Relaxed pace. The immediately appealing melodic theme character is continued in all solos. How beautiful things are possible within a standard form with simple harmonies… During the band’s stay in Chicago at the end of 1955, tenorist Harold Land received bad news from his home front in San Diego. He immediately travels to California, and not much later decides to say goodbye to the road and stay on the West Coast from now on. His successor at CliffordBrown/Max Roach will be…Sonny Rollins! In early 1956 the band – with Rollins – was in the studio for the recording of Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street. * Cole Porter’s What is This Thing Called Love opens with an atmospheric one-minute intro. In Cherokee – from the album Study in Brown – they did something similar. An effectively built-up tension. * The popular song Love is a Many Splendored Thing gets a sharp tempo acceleration compared to most other versions. And the rhythmic-metric shifts also pull the theme far away from its origin. * I’ll Remember April shows a variation of the long, ‘static’ intro of the first song. Here too, a minute of warm-up before the theme emerges. You will also hear from this album Powell’s Prances, Time (both pieces by Richie Powell), The Scene is Clean and Gertrude’s Bounce (also by Powell). Basin Street is the only Brown/Roach album with Rollins. It is one of the band’s last recordings, and also a highlight. The album was rated by critic Scott Yanow as “… one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings.” House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke photo: Clifford Brown (left) and Max Roach