Swiss saxophonist Omri Ziegele presents with the Tomorrow Trio an adventurous line-up featuring the legendary Dutch drummer Han Bennink and accomplished Swiss double bassist Christian Weber. A collaboration that offers a perfect platform for Ziegele's robust, powerful sound and his dynamic phrasing, while at the same time showing interest in poetry and the spoken word. "If the Tomorrow Trio has a defining feature it is the potently communicative dialogue of the three individuals. It can be felt in the tight entwining of certain motifs by sax and drums; the snapchat rhythmic exchange of horn and drums; the well-judged release of cumulative tension by the whole band," writes Kevin Le Gendre in the liner notes.
Irene Schweizer and Han Bennink like to play together - you can hear it in every note. After a tour of Switzerland, the two went straight in the recording studio. The result is a stunning second album: "Welcome Back". The music moves between freely improvised pieces, beautiful jazz standards, and songs influenced by South-African melodies which are a trademark of Irene Schweizer (such as her classics 'Rag" and 'Bleu Fonce"). Schweizer says: "Han and I are soul-brother and soul-sister. We have the same taste and rhythmical feelings in jazz music." As Kevin Whitehead points out in the liner notes: "Hard to believe this is only the second Irene Schweizer-Han Bennink duo album, given how much they share, how far back they go, and how obviously they love playing together. But then, top improvisers have hectic schedules. Folks talk about how loud Han can be, how ruthless with duo partners, but this music confirms his sensitivity to dynamics in conversational playing, his generosity in support, his eagerness to hear his partner's views." The two share the same sense of play, lyricism, swing feeling, percussive clarity and historical grounding. A masterpiece!
After releasing five duo CDs on Intakt Records with Silke Eberhard, Lauren Newton, Rudi Mahall, Alexander von Schlippenbach and Louis Sclavis, Aki Takase now presents a breathtaking and entertaining recording with Han Bennink - two personalities familiar with all traditions of jazz who love to go on an expedition. Aki Takase offers such wondrous compositions as the title song 'Two for Two,' an homage to Han Bennink called 'Ohana Han,' 'My Tokyo' or 'Rolled Up.' the duo also reveals it's great playfulness while playing standards by Thelonious Monk and Eric Dolphy. Han Bennink is swinging in best New Orleans tradition while Aki Takase shows more and more of her poetic and melodic side.
