Mik Keusen's Blau

Mik Keusen's Blau: Nalu

by Greg Simmons
August 11, 2011

Mik Keusen's Blau clearly articulates a musical vision. A typical jazz lineup--piano, bass, drums, and reeds--Nalu spawns music that is anything but typical. Instead, it is post-modern and ambient, with almost industrial rhythmic drive. Nalu is as far from the core of blues and standard-based jazz as Pluto is from the sun. Tightly composed with very limited improvisation, Nalu's core is it's deep bass lines, layered with concise melodic statements. Pianist Keusen has constructed his music deliberately: “Usually ...