I happen to be sitting in the backyard of one of the most vibrant improvisation scenes on earth, and these people are my neighbors: Han Bennink, Tristan Honsinger, Misha Mengelberg, Michael Moore, Willem Breuker, Michel Waisvisz, Ernst Glerum, Wouter Wierbos, Gert-Jan Prins, Cor Fuller, radio improvisers Willem de Ridder and Jack de Kuiper, and many others. On any one night there are probably three concerts of improvised music taking place, be they at the Nieuwe Muziekgebouw—the new palace for contemporary music—or some laptop boys playing in the former squat house Overtoom 300, or at Zaal 100, or a concert of electro-acoustical music at STEIM, or a wild rocker evening at Paradiso, or a jazz jam at café Alto or at the Bimhuis. And that is just in Amsterdam! Not more than half an hour away, in the small town of Leiden, one is enthralled with the work of the Veen Studio. And then there are Rotterdam and The Hague. And all this, teaming away in a tiny country of only sixteen million inhabitants. The Dutch have a wonderful and almost untranslatable expression, ‘Lekker spelen’, which means literally, ‘delicious playing’, and that describes the joyous, and humor-filled playfulness that is prized by performers and audiences alike. This is to be felt in the dance world with Magpie as front runner in the mix between sound and movement. Jazz cellist Ernst Reiziger embodies this.
But this issue of Contemporary Music Review celebrates not only the Dutch improvisation scene but samples that from around the world in different genres of music as well as performing arts, for improvisation is flourishing everywhere. The people interviewed are often working on the cutting edge of their various disciplines and while some are heralded by the press, others are doing significant work in quieter ways. The choice of participants was itself somewhat improvisatory, as some of the artists happened to be where I traveled, in Amsterdam, New York, or Berkeley. A few conversed through the phone, microphone dangling nearby, while others with whom I couldn't meet communicated via email, and still some others who didn't feel comfortable with this declined to participate. At least for now … For I hope to continue this project in one way or another, as the variety of responses has been thought provoking, stimulating, and inspiring. And as improvisation is one of the most vital means of creation, I hope to keep these explorations with other artists alive and growing—and in the meanwhile to celebrate with lekker spelen.
Bon appetit.