Han Bennink, Reinier Baas & Ben van Gelder

Saxophonist Ben van Gelder and guitarist Reinier Baas have been playing together for 15 years – as a duo, but also in groups such as Mokum In Hi-Fi or the Metropole Orkest. In doing so, they have found a familiarity that allows them to anticipate each other in such a way that it is easy for them to guess what will come next. Someone of the calibre of Han Bennink naturally finds his place within this familiarity between the two Dutchmen. Anyone familiar with the career of this pioneer of free improvised music from Europe knows that the drummer, born in 1942, knows how to swing on his usually very reduced drum set in a way that only the forefathers of Afro-American jazz could. Benning affectionately calls the group of much younger compatriots his ‘children’s trio’. And when it comes to the repertoire, they will agree on the work of Thelonious Monk, to which the three will add one or two rarely played titles from the ‘Great American Songbook’ – wit included.