The Willem Breuker Kollektief

Willem Breuker Kollektief - Hunger! Thirst! Misery - The Complete Trilogy (2003) {Limited Edition Boxset BVHAAST 0502}
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© 2003 BV Haast Records | BVHAAST 0502
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Avant-Garde Jazz

AllMusic Review "Hunger" by Steve Loewy: This version of the Willem Breuker Kollektief includes highly entertaining vocalist Loes Luca on four of the 13 tracks. As with so many of the recordings by this orchestra, there is a mixture of Breuker originals and an eclectic sample of tunes from a variety of genres. "Yes, We Have No Bananas" is given a unique treatment, with vocals from Breuker, a ukulele solo by trumpeter Boy Raaymakers, and a delightful singing saw exposition by Lorre Lynn Trytten.

Willem Breuker Kollektief - A Paris & Summer Music (1978) {EPM-FD Music FD152012}
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© 1978, 1993 EPM / FD Music / Marge | FD152012
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Avant-Garde Jazz

A great Parisian recording from the legendary Willem Breuker – pulled from the most inventive years of his legendary group of Dutch avant musicians! The set captures the maestro at his best – working with a classic lineup of the Kollektief that includes Leo Cuypers on piano and vocals, Maarten Van Norden on saxes, Boy Raayamkers on trumpet, and some great drum work from Rob Verdurmen – all holding together beautifully with the offbeat mix of modern and traditional elements that Breuker used in his music. The sound of the album is surprisingly strong at times – especially on the straighter tracks, which groove along in a rhythmic mode, then break out for some solos that really go to town – and the whole thing's also handled with a fair degree of wit, as you'd expect from Breuker.

Recently the fifth album in a great series of unique live recordings was released by the former Dutch Jazz Archive (now: MCN) in its series Jazz at the Concertgebouw. Previous releases contained live recordings by Chet Baker (1955), Gerry Mulligan (1956), J.J. Johnson (1957) and Sarah Vaughan (1958), all originally recorded by Lou Van Rees, then Holland's most well-known producer. The Mengelberg-Noordijk album is the first one which features a Dutch quartet, a legendary group with a certain presence: the Misha Mengelberg - Piet Noordijk Quartet.

Phillip Johnston - Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble (1993) {Black Saint 120152-2}
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© 1993 Black Saint | 120152-2
Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Post Bop / Saxophone

Really, why should this music be called avant-garde? Should a band as gloriously fun as Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble really be given a stylistic label equated by many with either difficult art music or deadly serious free jazz? Yes, in the '90s jazz world, the enormously engaging saxophonist/composer and his band of accomplished musical pranksters definitely fell on the avant side of things, but that was more a reflection of the sorry state of the mainstream, in comparison to which, of course, any era's avant-garde is defined. In a rational world, Johnston's first post-Microscopic Septet project would be seen as appealing to a very broad audience segment – say, those with ears on the sides of their heads.