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Reinier Baas
Reinier Baas (1985) is a guitarist, composer and recording artist from the Netherlands with a DIY approach and an idiosyncratic body of work. He has released 11 records as a (co-)leader, with a wide variety of styles. His critically acclaimed albums 'Mostly Improvised Instrumental Indie Music' and the ambitious 'Reinier Baas vs. Princess Discombobulatrix' both earned him an Edison Award (the Netherland's most prestigious music award).
Baas’ music is characterised by “unpredictability with a reassuring sense of overall form”. A description of The New York City Jazz Record reads: “The music was assembled in unusual ways. Arcane harmonies suggest Bartók or Stravinsky, but then structures would fracture and hip-hop rhythms would suddenly hit hard and then everything would become wild flurries and improvised cacophonies before the music returned to solemn, orderly, if angular forms.”
Currently, Baas is a member of the Hammond-trio DEADEYE, Benjamin Herman’s punk/jazz group BUGHOUSE and Peter Gall’s PARADOX DREAMBOX. He works with partner-in-crime Ben van Gelder as a duo regularly, sometimes featuring legendary drummers Han Bennink or Jeff Ballard as guests.
As a composer, he has written works for Pynarello Symphony Orchestra, Metropole Orkest and the WDR Big Band, as well as commissions for the North Sea Jazz Festival, Royal Concertgebouw, Bimhuis, Südtirol Jazzfestival and November Music.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Metropole Orkest, National Youth Orchestra, National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, WDR Big Band, CvA Concert Big Band and the New Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra, among others.
Baas has performed with many notable musicians, including Louis Cole, David Binney, Fuensanta, Dave Douglas, Cory Smythe, Marta Warelis, Hans Teeuwen, Ramon Valle, Nora Fischer, Jesse van Ruller, Mary Halverson and Gregory Porter.
Baas is a sought-after educator. He is currently on faculty at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, Siena Jazz University and Jazzcampus Basel. He is the artistic director and conductor of the Dutch Youth Jazz Orchestra (NJJO) for its class of ‘25/’26.
Awards
Edison Jazz Award (2013)
Edison Jazz Award (2017)
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Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2022
by Libero Farnè
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Continue ReadingAntoine Pierre: Suspended (Live at Flagey)
by Mario Calvitti
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Continue ReadingAntoine Pierre URBEX ELECTRIC: Suspended (Live at Flagey)
by Mario Calvitti
Nonostante la scena musicale belga sia sempre eccezionalmente ricca e variegata, è ancora troppo colpevolmente trascurata al di fuori dei suoi confini nazionali, come dimostra il caso degli Aka Moon, uno straordinario trio che ha recentemente festeggiato i 25 anni di attività, ma è tuttora praticamente ignorato dai media stranieri. Speriamo non succeda lo stesso con questo nuovo giovane talento, il batterista Antoine Pierre, e il suo gruppo URBEX, già tra i principali protagonisti dell'ultima edizione del Festival Jazz di ...
Continue ReadingDave Holland, Louis Moholo, Ben Van Gelder, Emma Frank & Other New Releases
by Ludovico Granvassu
After three weeks of thematic episodes, we have to get back to checking what's new and what's coming up... The piles of new and upcoming releases have been building up and we could not wait any longer. So here's to a great episode with new, upcoming and reissued gems, featuring the music of Dave Holland, Zakir Hussain, Chris Potter, Ben Van Gelder, Reinier Baas, Emma Frank, Craig Taborn, Louis Moholo and many other creative minds. Happy listening! ...
Continue ReadingReinier Baas, Ben van Gelder, Metropole Orkest: Smash Hits
by Vincenzo Roggero
Il chitarrista Reinier Baas ed il sassofonista Ben van Gelder pur essendo ancora in giovane età (trentatré anni il primo, trenta il secondo) vantano già diversi riconoscimenti internazionali, numerose collaborazioni prestigiose, e un'intensa attività concertistica che solo nell'ultimo anno li ha visti condividere il palco oltre duecento volte (tra le quali le apprezzate esibizioni allo Young Jazz Festival di Foligno e alla Sala Vanni di Firenze).I brani presenti in Smash Hits--già presenti in altra veste nei precedenti album ...
Continue ReadingForget Old Europe: 15 European Jazz Musicians You Need To Know About
by Enrico Bettinello
Since the first half of the 20th century, the Old Continent has played a pivotal role both in welcoming and supporting jazz artists from the United States. Over the following decades it has expressed generations of passionate musicians with increasingly original languages and ever greater improvisatory skills. In the 21st century there are countless excellent, professionally trained, jazz musicians all over Europe (as everywhere else in the world), ranging from the more mainstream boppers to the most radical ...
Continue ReadingSüdtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2017
by Libero Farnè
Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige Bolzano e provincia Varie sedi 30.6-9.7.2017 Klaus Widmann concepisce il festival che dirige sempre più come un laboratorio, un tavolo da gioco su cui mescolare le carte, favorendo la sperimentazione e la creazione di formazioni inedite. I musicisti invitati, spesso titolari di un progetto specifico, si sono fermati a Bolzano per una settimana, mettendosi alla prova e cercando soluzioni musicali diverse. Ovviamente hanno dovuto spostarsi ovunque sul territorio provinciale, in quanto ...
Continue Reading“A breathtakingly talented guitarist, who is able to impress and touch with his instrument, and a gifted composer who dares to take risk on top of this.” — Jazzism
“There is no duo that has been more defining for the sound of jazz in the Netherlands over the past ten years than guitarist Reinier Baas and alto saxophonist Ben van Gelder. ” — TROUW
“Relief Party exudes the atmosphere of a musical liberation party, in which genres do not seem to exist.” — Volkskrant
Ben Bryden
saxophone
Marco Moura
guitar
Teis Semey
guitar
Max Walker
guitar
Mario Castelberg
guitar
Jakub Klimiuk
guitar, electric
