Reviews

“Bouquet of Bright Jazz Colors”

A CD filled with piano and drums music. This has been registered before. Yet drummer Wim Kegel still dared ask his musical friend Marc van Roon to record such a CD with him. The result is Drumwise, a solid example of how fantasy, daring, expertise, historical insight and far-reaching improvisation technique can lead to a remarkable CD.

Drumwise includes ten pieces. Two of these, “Take the A-train” and “Fleurette Africaine”, are by Duke Ellington. Two are from the Great American Songbook: “The Song Is You” by Jerome Kern and “Night And Day” by Cole Porter. The other compositions are by the two performers.

The choice of pieces has produced an extremely diverse end product. Those who think these compositions are but the umpteenth – duplicated – performance will be deceived. Wim Kegel and Marc van Roon take the opportunity to strip off the pieces of their old skin and to translate them to these times according to their own insights. This leads to unpredictable turns in melody and harmony, anomalous accents and the pleasant experience of what you think you know but which turns out to be different.

The original compositions are a taste of high-level craft. They show two musicians who know each other thoroughly, but have also been seasoned by playing with others. They have both played together with Michael Brecker, Clark Terry and Dave Liebman. Kegel has also played with Willem van Manen’s Contraband, Pat Metheny, Sunny Murray and Down Town Jazz Band. Van Roon has occupied the piano stool with Terry Lyne Carrington, Linda Oh and Art Farmer amongst others.

This bouquet of vivid jazz colours shines through on Drumwise. Wim Kegel’s playing based on African rhythms wrestles with the transparent style of Marc van Roon. And Van Roon’s watery chord fields, alternated with thoughtful piano playing and periods of quiet, contrast with the somewhat raw drums sound of Kegel, while also flowing beautifully into it.

Drumwise is a CD that you will often pull from the shelf. The locale where the music was recorded, the Lutheran Church in Haarlem, and the man who signed his name to this, Bert van der Wold, also contribute in no small measure to this.

RINUS VAN DER HEIJDEN

(English translation: Philippa Burton)

Wim Kegel with Marc van Roon

Drumwise

Buzz/Challenge

JAZZ

****1/2

When drummer Wim Kegel imagined this project, he undoubtedly thought that the sound of the drums should be central. Yet the music is melodic and Kegel’s technical abilities do not take front stage. There are indeed but a handful of drums solo albums that are also of interest to non-drummers. Pianist Marc van Roon helps ensure that the context always remains accessible with a playing style that does not weaken the rhythmic core. In this manner, the slower pieces also display additional tension. If you belong to the small minority with a good SACD player, you are truly in for a treat, as the nuances of recorded sounds are nothing short of a revelation. Here Kegel is not challenging boundaries: he wants you to hear the multitude of beautiful details contained in the touch of his instrument. The repertoire is stylistically varied with bright originals by both Kegel and Van Roon, next to a few known pieces culminating in Ellington’s “Fleurette Africaine”.

Ken Vos

(English translation: Philippa Burton)