It is always sheer delight to see and hear alto saxophonist Ben van Gelder and guitarist Reinier Bass. This is jazz without the brakes. Adventurous, challenging, unpredictable, the arrangements have a richness about them, and everything is played with a lot of love. This Is Water, their third album together, is masterful.
Several of the tracks on This Is Water feature just the two of them, and that sounds great. And there are some other very fine pieces where four friendly musicians and their very different sound-worlds are added in – Jeff Ballard, Cory Smythe, Marta Warelis and Han Bennink. And it is precisely the opulence of all those different colours and atmospheres that makes This Is Water such a strong album.
It is plain that Baas and van Gelder continue to grow musically through their work together. They have been playing the European jazz circuit for years and are much sought-after musicians. They are both fabulously equipped technically, something which stays front-of-mind because they keep playing adventurously and setting themselves challenges.
It seems as if they have been on the scene for decades, after all, they are among the leading Dutch jazz musicians, and are also making a name for themselves internationally. Yet both men are still only in their mid-30s. And that fact only makes This Is Water all the more impressive.
The album title is a reference to a speech given by American writer David Foster Wallace – who died far too early at the age of 46 – at Kenyon College in 2005. He inspired students to consciously interpret reality and create the freedom to find meaning and freedom in life, Baas and van Gelder have written a set of eleven pieces.
We find pieces that sound super-inspired, driven, adventurous and challenging, and others that are beautifully melodic. The collaborations with fantastic drummer Jeff Ballard and cult hero Cory Smythe, whose incomprehensible set-up gives him an extra dose of keys to use, and then there is the legend that is Han Bennink, with whom Baas and van Gelder have also formed a long-standing trio. These are very strong musical choices.
To find a way of describing This Is Water optimally is almost impossible. Listen to the title track, which is also the album’s opener, and then let the music come through and let yourself be surprised by a salutary jazz record that once again raises the standard of jazz in the Netherlands to a very high level. One of those records that you can listen to again and again and become completely absorbed in.
With an album title that refers to the speech given by the American writer David Foster Wallace – who died far too early- at Kenyon College in 2005, where he inspired students to consciously interpret reality and create the freedom to find meaning and freedom in life, Baas and van Gelder have written 11 pieces.
Pieces that are super-inspired. Driven, adventurous and challenging, which can also sound beautifully melodic. The collaborations with fantastic drummer Jeff Ballard and cult hero Cory Smythe, who has an extra dose of keys at his disposal due to an incomprehensible set-up, as well as the legend that is Han Bennink (with whom Baas and van Gelder have also formed a trio for a long time) are very strong musical choices.
Naturally it is difficult to avoid identifying favourite tracks from one’s early listens. The title track is masterful and “Glass”, a little further on the album, is equally majestic. The ways in which Baas and van Gelder are able to hit you hard with these tracks really is something quite out of the ordinary.
The pieces with Jeff Ballard are incredibly hard-hitting, and the collaboration with Smythe brings genuine excitement. The pair of pieces called “Skull-Sized Kingdom” bring out some real dynanism. And the piece with Han Bennink (and pianist Maria Warelis) combines its wayward spirit with both seductiveness and emotion.
This Is Water puts the best of Dutch jazz back into the spotlight. Although Baas and van Gelder also make their separate albums, and their projects/bands DeadEye (Baas) and Manifold (van Gelder) are fantastic too, their collaborations together are particularly special.
This Is Water is their best album so far and is highly recommended. Go see them live too!
(*) This is an English version of the original Dutch review which Dick Hovenga wrote for Written in Music – LINK
