DOEK Festival Amsterdam 2015: Doek Meets Tri-Centric

Doek is a collective of stellar musicians based in the Amsterdam area dedicated to furthering the creative possibilities in improvised music. In June 2015, they broadened their horizons by inviting Anthony Braxton and his cadre of nine hand-picked younger USA talents to play with ten of their musicians for a week-long adventure in spontaneity using mixed and matched groupings. This transatlantic exchange resulted in an astonishing mix of instantly composed, pre-composed, and conduction music resounding from over 30 mini or full scale sets of duets, trios, quartets, sextets, nonets, tentets, plus large orchestras encompassing all 20 of the participants. Initial evening sessions and open afternoon rehearsals were conducted at the Zaal 100 performance space, while the larger ensembles were offered at the famous Bimhuis, Amsterdam's (and one of the world's) premier venues. Braxton also gave a talk one afternoon at the Amsterdam library on his concepts of the creative process and his involvement in the avant-garde movement. This musical cross pollination was a huge success and culminated with a jazz bike tour where the audience rode from venue to venue to hear various co-mingled configurations, followed by a celebration party.