Not so recent jazz #2: Han Bennink
Jun. 25th, 2011 02:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhythmaningDutch avant garde drummer Han Bennink played a couple of nights at the Vortex. I caught him the night he played a drum duet with Steve Noble – one of my favourite British improvising drummers – and a set with his own trio.
The drum duet was really fun, the two improvisers bouncing ideas off each other. Bennink plays with a lot of playful humour, clowning around on the snare drum, playing his shoes, playing his teeth (really!), the floor and the pillars. Nobel had his usual box of tricks – rattles, whistles and things to hit. Their set was short – ten or fifteen minutes – but really fun.
Han Bennink’s trio then played for forty five minutes or so, a modern take on old repertoire: lots of old standards were in the mix, updated with modern improvisation. It was entertaining but slightly bizarre, as snippets of classics emerged from the randomness of their playing. The trio comprised piano, clarinet and drums – an interesting mix of textures. It was another enjoyable, interesting set; my only quibble was its brevity: the whole evening contained only about an hour of music. So: enjoyable – but not necessarily good value…
The drum duet was really fun, the two improvisers bouncing ideas off each other. Bennink plays with a lot of playful humour, clowning around on the snare drum, playing his shoes, playing his teeth (really!), the floor and the pillars. Nobel had his usual box of tricks – rattles, whistles and things to hit. Their set was short – ten or fifteen minutes – but really fun.
Han Bennink’s trio then played for forty five minutes or so, a modern take on old repertoire: lots of old standards were in the mix, updated with modern improvisation. It was entertaining but slightly bizarre, as snippets of classics emerged from the randomness of their playing. The trio comprised piano, clarinet and drums – an interesting mix of textures. It was another enjoyable, interesting set; my only quibble was its brevity: the whole evening contained only about an hour of music. So: enjoyable – but not necessarily good value…
