Misha Mengelberg
Misha Mengelberg (1935-2017) was a Dutch pianist and composer, born in Kiev and raised in the Netherlands, who died in Amsterdam. Trained at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and linked to Fluxus in those years, he co-founded the Instant Composers Pool (ICP) in 1967 with Han Bennink and Willem Breuker. He is known for free improvisation, absurdist music theatre and his readings of Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols. Mengelberg was the son of the conductor Karel Mengelberg.
Pech Onderweg
There is no doubt that Misha Mengelberg was an excellent, even a great, jazz pianist. He was already close to that when he recorded with Eric Dolphy at the end of the latter’s career and he certainly was there by the mid ‘60s, when he was leading a quartet with alto saxophonist Piet Noordijk and drummer Han Bennink. But Mengelberg, like Bennink, was a musical maverick rarely content as a performer to play ‘just’ jazz and this is reflected on the solo record Pech Onderweg, recorded 40 years ago …
Groupcomposing
Corbett vs. Dempsey presents a reissue of Misha Mengelberg's Groupcomposing, recorded in 1970 and originally released in 1978. Comprised of a one-time international free music supergroup, and originally released as the sixth production on pianist Mengelberg and drummer Han Bennink's ICP label, Groupcomposing has been largely absent from the history books. This is the case because the record has been so unavailable, certainly not as a comment on the magnitude and magnificence of the music. With i…
New Jazz Festival Balver Höhle (New Jazz 1974 & 1975)
Recorded live at the cave at Balve, West Germany, July 27/28, 1974 and May 31/June 1, 1975. Box Set with 11 CDs featuring the best of the New Jazz Scene from Europe and the USA in 1974/75. 32-page booklet with concert pictures, posters, flyers and newspaper clippings (in German and English). Includes complete performances and improvisations by Peter Brötzmann, Jasper van’t Hof, John Surman (with the legendary Trio Surman-Osborne-Skidmore) Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and many more!
RECORDED li…
It won't be called Broken Chair
"Two improvisations on piano & tenor saxophone, one in concert and the other before the audience arrived, recorded at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam in 2006. The sleeve design is derived from work by the late Tomas Schmit whose work is much loved by both MM and EP."-psi
The Busy Drone
1996 release ** "Reedist Willem Breuker has a fascination with the mechanical organ, particularly instruments like the European street organ. The mechanical organ works like a player piano, and on these recordings is controlled by either Ben Uijtiens or Chris Weeda. His previous Bvhaast album, Lunchconcert for three Amsterdam streetorgans recorded from 1967-1969 is an unusual album of organ work that takes the instrument is lesser known territories, and included a tribute piece to John Coltrane.…