Yuri Honing: North Sea Jazz Legendary Concerts

It's fitting that saxophonist, composer and quiet visionary Yuri Honing should be acknowledged as one of the pivotal voices in the history of the Netherland's world-renowned North Sea Jazz festival, described in 1990 by Jazz Times as "the best jazz festival in the world." Honing's first appearance at the NSJF's was in 1995, where he performed with pianist {Michiel Bortslap}}'s sextet. Since then, he has played all but three of the last 18 editions, reflecting his status alongside pianist Misha Mengelberg and drummer Han Bennink as one of the leading figures in Dutch and European jazz.

In '95, the NSJF'S lineup included pianist Oscar Peterson, saxophonists Johnny Griffin and Joe Henderson, drummers Paul Motian and Elvin Jones, trumpeter Art Farmer, singer Abbey Lincoln and Hammond B3 organist Jimmy Smith—legends of jazz's often-called Golden Age. But those jazz greats have nearly all passed, and jazz it seems, stands at an uncertain crossroads these days. The rise of European jazz has challenged the status quo, but instead of arguing over what jazz is or who owns it, we should be celebrating the fact that at no time in jazz's history has greater individualism or greater creative freedom existed, as the 9 tracks on this CD attest.

The baton has been handed down to a new generation, and Honing is one of the trailblazers injecting new vocabulary into the jazz idiom and stretching the boundaries of what is acceptable. Jazz has flirted with pop songs since the halcyon days of Broadway, defining the standards songbook along the way. Jazz musicians also turned to pop in a kneejerk reaction to the Brit-pop invasion led by the Beatles in the '60s, a revolution which threatened to confine jazz to the dustbin. Few, however, have explored popular music with such serious intent as Honing, as his album Star Tracks (Jazz in Motion, 1996) demonstrated. In reinventing songs by Abba, the Police, Bjork, Cyndi Lauper and Green Day, Honing was one of those leading the way in broadening the popular song base from which jazz could draw from, thus bringing new blood to an old art form.

The burning version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" by Honing's electric quintet Wired Paradise, recorded at the NSJF in 2012, states the case for Honing as one of the most original of modern interpreters. Honing builds his solo slowly, only tearing loose of the reins in the powerful climax, but even when playing nine sheets to the wind, Honing is always at the service of the song.

Bowie has provided inspiration for Honing on more than one occasion, most recently on a poignant rendition of the singer's "Bring Me the Disco king" on True (Challenge Records, 2012). The title track to that album and Goldfrapp's "Paper Bag"—both recorded at the NSJF 2011—are highlights of this CD. Honing's plaintive tenor voice on "True" asserts his pedigree as an exceptional balladeer. Another gorgeous slow tune, "Wasted," features singer Sarah Bettens, and Floris on loops, in a mesmerizing performance from 2009, with Honing providing sympathetic accompaniment.

Several of Honing's most notable collaborations at the NSJF are absent from this collection, especially those with bassist Charlie Haden and pianist Paul Bley in 2001, alongside guitarist Pat Metheny and bassist Scott Colley in 2003, and leading his jazz/Arabic folk project Orient Express in 2010. Nevertheless, there is still plenty to cheer about on this collection. Honing's collaboration with Dutch jazz improvising legend, pianist Misha Mengelberg from 1998 and another with pianist Michiel Bortslap from 1996 are wonderfully intimate exercises in subtly shifting dynamics.

Honing's Acoustic Quartet rework Brazilian guitarist/singer Milton Nascimento's "Miracle of the Fishes" in very personal style, from the 2011 edition of the NSJF. Honing unleashes one of his most arresting tenor solos of the collection here, though is faithful to the spirit of the original composition. The other interpretation is Ornette Coleman's "Happy House" from 1971. Honing's tenor and Benjamin Herman's alto saxophone weave knotty, exhilarating lines on this highly charged number. This recording stems from the NSJF 2003, with Honing ceding the leadership to drummer Joost Lijbaart's Group of Friends.

Nobody knows Honing's music better than Lijbaart, who has played with the saxophonist since the late 1980s. "For me Yuri is one of the most intense and most honest persons I know," says Lijbaart. "I've played with him for the last 25 years and over 3000 concerts in 75 countries around the world. Sometimes the circumstances were good, sometimes horrible, but Yuri will always give everything he's got when he's on stage. All the other musicians will do the same to stay with him. That's an amazing quality because touring can be very hard with lots of travel and lack of sleep. His voice just gets stronger as the years go by."

The final track, "Phase Five," hails from a 2009 performance by the group of the same name and is power personified. Guitarist Stef van Es, keyboardist Tony Roe, bassist Mark Haanstra and drummer Satinda Kalpoe combine quasi psychedelic effects and a punkish energy, driven on by a bullish Honing, in the most outré recording of the collection.

Listening to the wide stylistic range of music on these recordings, it's clear that Honing has the rare ability to make his nest in any musical environment. From contemporary pop to modern duo improvisations and from Brazilian folk to jazz's deep, eclectic well; it's all grist to the saxophonist's mill. In both acoustic and electric settings, in meditative or muscular vein, and as leader or as collaborator, Honing's is a unique and instantly recognizable voice. It will be fascinating to see what incarnations Honing conjures up in the next twenty years of the NSJF, but one thing is for sure—as Joost Lijbaart remarked—he'll be giving everything he's got.

Liner Notes copyright © 2024 Ian Patterson.

North Sea Jazz Legendary Concerts can be purchased here.

Contact Ian Patterson at All About Jazz.
Ian is dedicated to the promotion of jazz and all creative music all over the world, and to catching just a little piece of it for himself.

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