Black Ice Wolfert Brederode Trio

• 1Elegia05:15
• 2Olive Tree05:08
• 3Bemani04:04
• 4Black Ice03:33
• 5Cocoon05:40
• 6Fall05:01
• 7Terminal02:42
• 8Conclusion04:33
• 9Curtains04:24
• 10Rewind05:28
• 11Bemani (Var.)01:21
• 12Glass Room04:24
• 13Fall (Var.)01:42
• Total Runtime53:15

Info for Black Ice

After the quartet adventures of Currents and Post Scriptum, Wolfert Brederode returns to a piano trio setting, and Black Ice makes an apt metaphor for his new music, with its gleaming lyricism, transparency, and hint of danger. “I find the combination of danger and beauty intriguing”, he says. There is sleek melodic invention both from the leader and from Icelandic bassist Gulli Gudmundsson, and Jasper van Hulten proves to be a resourceful addition to the team, a tone-sensitive drummer adept at embellishing the sensitive musical language and sense of interplay.

Brederode and Gudmundsson have collaborated often over the years in contexts from free improvisation to theatre music and have a keenly honed intuitive understanding. They met in the 1990s when both were studying at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and, as Wolfert notes, “immediately had a strong musical connection.” Their creative compatibility first found expression in an earlier Brederode trio, which in turn evolved into a quintet co-led by Wolfert and drummer Eric Ineke. In 2006 Brederode joined Gudmundsson’s Binary Orchid trio, completed by trumpeter Arve Henriksen. And pianist and bassist have continued their association also inside the quartet of Dutch tenorist Yuri Honing.

In parallel, Brederode has developed his own music, documented on his critically- acclaimed ECM albums with his quartet with Claudio Puntin, Mats Eilertsen and Samuel Rohrer, and he has continued to make important contributions to the music of singer Susanne Abbuehl.

Wolfert Brederode: “Though I’ve been busy playing in many formations, the experience and joy of playing in a classic jazz piano trio had never left my mind. An opportunity to try the trio formation again occurred when I was asked to assemble a group for a benefit concert in 2011.” Gudmondsson was an obvious choice, and Wolfert had appreciated the way in which Gulli played with drummer Jasper van Hulten in the rhythm section of trumpeter Eric Vloeimans’s band Gatecrash. “I really enjoyed Jasper’s subtle but sharp playing, which is also influenced by rock and pop, and his dedication to the music, whatever the context.” Their first trio concert “felt so natural and fluid. We all felt something real and beautiful took place. Then the idea to start a trio again seriously took shape. I started to write new material with this particular setting in mind and we met up and played many times, to experiment and concentrate on the direction the music should or could be taking.”

A few words about some of the tunes: “Glass Room” was inspired by English author Simon Mawer’s novel The Glass Room (which in turn was, in part, inspired by the cool rationality of the architecture of Mies van der Rohe). “Elegia”, says Brederode, “is a lament but is also intended to give solace. Its melody rises gradually, only to return to the piano’s deeper region near the end.” On “Fall”, heard in two variations, bass and piano move around a fractured rock rhythm until finally absorbed by the mood emanating from the drums. “Terminal” explores the eerie ambience – familiar to all travelling musicians – of airports late at night, while “Curtains” references a periodic need to withdraw from the world, and “Rewind” plays with the idea of turning back time...

“Mood and atmosphere are leading in this trio, the stories we tell are not always finished or concluded. As a listener I like to be given the space to let the music continue in my mind...” The aim, he says, was “to approach the songs in an unprejudiced and open way” and the process of working on the tunes in rehearsal and in the studio was one of shedding layers, peeling the music back to its essential core.

Wolfert Brederode, piano
Gulli Gudmundsson, double bass
Jasper van Hulten, drums

Wolfert Brederode
has worked as a musician and composer since 1996 and he has developed into one of the most prominent and authentic musicians of the younger Dutch generation. A refined and focused touch, concern for natural flow, openness to all kinds of music, and his relentless search for new horizons are characteristic features of his music.

He debuted with ensembles such as the Wolfert Brederode Quintet, Nimbus, the Susanne Abbuehl Group and later on also with a.o. the Wolfert Brederode Quartet, Duo Lijbaart/Brederode, Batik and the Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet. With these groups he has recorded, toured, performed at festivals and made broadcasting recordings in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, UK, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Scandinavia, Finland, Canada, South Africa, Mozambique, Panama, Brasil, Argentina, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan and South Korea.

In 2014 Wolfert initiated a new trio featuring Gulli Gudmundsson on double bass and Jasper van Hulten on drums. Their first album will be released on ECM Records in spring 2016.

Wolfert has worked furthermore with artists such as David Liebman, Jeanne Lee, Arve Henriksen, Mark Feldman, Ernst Reijseger, Ack van Rooyen, Matthieu Michel, John Ruocco, Rachel Gould, Ronan Guilfoyle, Tony Lakatos, Harry Sokal, Trygve Seim, Michel Portal, Per Oddvar Johansen, Olavi Louhivuori, Oene van Geel, Bram Stadhouders, Theo Loevendie, Lucas Niggli, Tore Brunborg, Jojo Mayer, Gerald Veasley, Wolfgang Puschnig, Eric Vloeimans, Cristina Branco and Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Gulli Gudmundsson
was born in Iceland in 1971 and moved to The Netherlands in 1993. In The Hague he studied jazz double bass with Jaques Schols, Hein van de Geyn and Frans van der Hoefen and finished a master’s degree in 1999.

Gulli has played at the North Sea Jazz festival several times and had appearances in many European countries as well as in Colombia, Canada, and Thailand. He took part in several competitions with the Zenker-Kappe Quartet and won the 1st price in the Dutch Jazz Competition in 1997, the 1st price in the XXIII. International Jazz Competition for Groups 1999 in Getxo, Spain and the 1st price in the Dutch Jazz Competition 1995 with the DiLiberto-Gesing Quartet.

Currently he plays with Eric Vloeimans, the Natasza Kurek Group, Sanna van Vliet Quartet, Otterloo Project, and others. He also has an own band, Binary Orchid, that focuses on his compositions and free improvisation. Since autumn 2003, Gulli teaches at the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Antwerpen.

From an early age Jasper already showed a strong reaction to almost every sound, and he appeared to have a very good hearing. There was always a lot of music and instruments in the house. From the moment his dad gave him his first washing-powder-box-drumkit, his future was determined: from seven years old he starts taking drumlessons at the local music school.

Jasper van Hulten
was born 19 september 1981 in Breda, the Netherlands.Ten years later he is admitted to the Rotterdam Conservatory, where he graduates in 2002 as a bachelor in music. While studying drums and music, he starts building up his network on numerous jamsessions, and already plays frequently with numerous bands in various styles such as pop, jazz, latin-american, etc.

His professional career took off with a bands like “The Young Sinatras” and “Sensual”, playing on almost every jazzfestival in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, many other bands started to develop, giving Jasper the chance to gain a lot of experience and find his way in music. And also to grow as an all-round musician and record many albums, always approaching music with an open mind, looking for sound, harmony and unity.

Now his current bands include ‘Eric Vloeimans Gatecrash’ (electro-improvised music with one of Europe’s leading trumpetplayers) and Wouter Hamel, a dutch singer/songwriter. With these bands Jasper recorded award winning albums and is playing in clubs, theatres and festivals throughout the Netherlands and Europe, but also in Japan, south Korea, Indonesia, India, South-Africa, USA, etc.

Besides this, Jasper played with great musicians like Bert van den Brink, Harmen Fraanje, Michiel Borstlap, Jeroen van Vliet, Hein van de Geyn, Stefan Lievestro, Gulli Gudmundsson, Peter Tiehuis, Theo de Jong, Benjamin Herman, Anton Goudsmit, Ad Colen, Ilja Reijngoud, Fay Claassen, Jesse van Ruller, Angelo Verploegen, Colin Benders aka ‘Kyteman’, Dick de Graaf, Milan Bonger, Mete Erker, Tutu Puoane, Gino Vannelli, Wende Snijders, Denise Jannah, Edsilia Rombley, Deborah Carter, Lydia van Dam, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, amongst many others.

Booklet for Black Ice