On Han Bennink

(Han Bennink, HBM Trio, Dixon Place, April 18, 2012, 2012 © Peter Gannushkin)

I recently heard that Han Bennink made an appearance in the US, doing an interview stop on NPR's Fresh Air, in addition to a 5-day marathon radio broadcast on WKCR out of New York in honor of his birthday. Bennink also played a concert on 2/21/2012 in celebration of his April 17th birthday with Richard Teitelbaum (keys), Ray Anderson (t-bone), Uri Caine (drums), Mark Dresser (bass), Mary Oliver (poet), Thomas Heberer (tpt), and Michael Moore (sax/clnt). Hopefully some audio or video will emerge.

I first heard of Bennink in 2002 after I scored a disk by the Clusone Trio titled "I Am an Indian." It also features Michael Moore on alto sax, clarinet, and melodica and Ernst Reijziger on cello. It was my first exposure to the kind of frenetic, left-of-center jazz that I would eventually come to fully embrace and seek out. The following is a cut from the disk titled "Sonoroso."