Dutch Jazz Masters at Library and Archives of Canada

 

Featuring 10 of the Netherlands’s leading jazz musicians, the ICP – or Instant Composers Pool – Orchestra will bring its distinctive blend of improvisation, jazz heritage and humour to the Library and Archives of Canada on Thursday, April 3 at 8 p.m.

Founded by drummer Han Bennink and pianist Misha Mengelberg in the late 1960s, ICP has been a laboratory for some of the most creative music made in Western Europe. Musicians as diverse as saxophonists Peter Brötzmann and John Tchicai, trombonist George Lewis and cellist Ernst Reijseger have formed part of the ICP’s revolving lineup. In addition to Bennink and Mengelberg, longtime members still with the orchestra include American expatriate saxophonist Michael Moore, cellist Tristan Honsinger, trombonist Wolter Wierbos and bassist Ernst Glerum.

Although the orchestra has recorded tributes to bebop pianists Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols, and performed programs of Duke Ellington’s music, at the heart of the group’s sound is the wide-open improvisation and high-spirited musical adventurism that characterize the fertile Dutch jazz scene. The ICP’s latest recording, 2001’s Oh, My Dog, was a showcase for the current unit’s consummate musicianship and love of freedom on the verge of anarchy.

The ICP Orchestra’s Ottawa performance is a co-presentation of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, the Library and Archives of Canada and Music Now.

The Library and Archives of Canada Auditorium is located at 395 Wellington Street.

Admission is $15.00. Tickets will be available at the door.

The ICP Orchestra is:

Misha Mengelberg – piano