Ab Baars (NL) tenorsax/clarinet/shakuhachi
Axel Dörner (DE) trumpet
Lori Freedman (CA) bass clarinet/clarinet
Ig Henneman (NL) viola and compositions
Wilbert de Joode (NL) bass
Marilyn Lerner (CA) piano
This international band was founded in December 2010 in celebration of composer/bandleader Ig Henneman’s 25th anniversary and 65th birthday. The sextet has led a succesful tour in December 2010 throughout Europe culminating in the Bimhuis performance that yielded the new CD ‘Cut a Caper’ (Wig 19). The sextet also performed at festivals like the FIMAV festival in Victoriaville (CA) and Total Music Meeting in Tours (FR). June 2012 the band plays a Canadian International Festival tour of 5 concerts.
The sextet program include homages to some of Henneman’s artistic soul-mates including Thelonious Monk, Emily Dickinson, Jimmy Giuffre, Kate McGarrigle, Ian Dury, Gilian Welch, Galina Ustvolskaya, Francesco Landini, Sofia Gubaidulina, Morton Feldman and Misha Mengelberg.
(…) The brutality displayed by the sextet will leave your jaw dropping in astonishment… The greatest merit of Ig Henneman on ‘Cut a Caper’ is that she gives new tools to transform the Dutch improvised music of the past into the present.
--Rinus van der Heijden – Jazzenzo Jazzmagazin, the Netherlands, September 2011
(…) Interlayering avant-guarde free improvisation with modern chamber composition is obviously not a new idea, yet I can hardly think of any more succesfull efforts in the area.
-- Jazzowy Alchemik, Poland, Ocobert 2011
Composer Ig Henneman has the same gift as Charles Mingus.
In her music, the chaos swings and the order is flexible as reeds swaying in the wind. Music like a vibrant cauldron, and it tastes good, too!
--Maartje den Breejen –Parool, the Netherlands September 14 2011
(...) In truth, what Henneman brought to the improvised music scene in the Netherlands, one of the most important in Europe, and benefiting from the country’s hub position, was a painterly richness of texture. In amongst the skronk and clatter of free playing, she always sounded different, but by no means soft-edged.
-- Brian Morton UK The Tablet Januari 2011
(…) It is a music that crackles with surprise, yet radiates the audience with the glow of its acoustic timbres.
--David Lee (CA), author of The Battle of the Five Spot: Ornette Coleman and the New York Jazz Field
"It wasn't jazz, it wasn't modern classical, it was cool."
--Bruce Lee Gallanter (Downtown Music Gallery, NY)
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reviews Ig Henneman period 1986-2009
(...) Her sound lets you hear how she makes music, you're aware of the friction of bow against string, of flesh against string, of the physical impact of a snapped string hitting wood. It's a very honest sound, beautiful, but not in any conventional sense.
--Ed Hazell
(...) Altvioliste Ig Henneman is een constante in de geschiedenis van de Nederlandse improvisatiemuziek. Of moet je zeggen eigentijdse muziek? In een wereld die wordt gedomineerd door mannen, gaat de Nederlandse volstrekt haar eigen gang, doet geen enkele concessie, maakt kortom haar eigen muziek.
--Rinus van der Heijden
(...) Im Spannungsfeld von Komposition und Improvisation, und von Tradition und Innovation entsteht eine spannende und ungewöhnliche Musik, die in der zeitgenössischen Jazzmusik kaum etwas vergleichbares kennt.
--Emanuel Wenger
(...) Her compositions inspire performances which are anything but ordinary, the collective improvising often breathtaking. The balance between melody and abstraction, rhythmic drive and ballad tones, keeps it all sounding brilliantly right.
--Doug Lang
(...) That rare composer who can explore the conceptual nature of her instrument - the "string-ness," if you will, of the violin family - while also offering witty structures and evocative sonic textures, Henneman offered the most memorable concert in a weekend of strong performances.
--Paul de Barros
(...) Ce travail représente une réussite d'autant plus exceptionnelle que Henneman parvient à faire entrer les trois autres musiciens dans le processus avec une liberté et un naturel confondants.
Cette musique fascine par un mixte indécidable d'ancien et de nouveau. Dans le même mouvement elle rend dissonnant et problèmatique le passé trop univoque construit par l'histoire et les traditions et donne au présent un cohérence plus grande que celle de l'ahurissant vécu instantané.
Dans ce temps musical les émotions humaines sébattent comme les pensionnaires de la Thélème de Rabelais.
--Noel Tachet
(...) Henneman is fel en scherp, zij zegt niet veel, elke opmerking is niettemin raak geplaatst.
--Mischa Andriessen
(...) Henneman schöpft die Möglichkeiten ihres Instruments in extremer Weise aus, während Ab Baars immerhin zwischen den verschiedenen Instrumenten wechseln kann, Tenorsaxophon, Klarinette wie auch asiatischen Flöten, die sich bei diesen Klanggemälden als sehr hilfreich erweisen.
Eine außergewöhnliche Aufnahme, die eigentlich nur beim New Dutch Swing und seinen schier unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten entstehen können.
--Hans-Jürgen von Osterhausen
> stichting wig