Drummer Han Bennink has spent the last four decades having a go at it with just about

every improviser he crosses paths with...

Janssen is one of the preeminent composers of the Dutch improv scene. That, combined

with prodigious technique and a propensity to seamlessly blend abstraction and swing,

makes him an ideal partner... the two traverse the history of jazz, from stride to freedom.

.... there is a sense of puckish jubilation in the performance. The two clearly revel in pushing

and prodding each other, speeding things up to madcap frenzy and then breaking with hairtrigger

precision to veer off in a new direction. Bennink draws on his encyclopedic knowledge

of the tradition of jazz drums, kick-swinging things along with split-time shuffles, acrobatic

paradiddles, and high-flying freedom. Janssen responds with lines that caterwaul along,

pushed to the point where they seem like they’ll snap apart at any moment. But through all

the spontaneous hijinx, there is always an overall form that never gets lost for a second.

Listening to the way the two sling-shot ideas back and forth is exhilarating. Just when you

think you know how they’ll tie out a boogie stomp, they change things up with splayed hyperdriven

flurries that sound like someone gave a few too many cranks to the Victrola.

contact: Susanna von Canon / Prinseneiland 99 / 1013 LN Amsterdam NL

+31 (0) 20 638 6611