Willem Breuker - the theater of music

Have you heard of Willem Breuker? Some of you have, and some may have not. He is one of the major figures that contributed to new and improvised music as we know it today. In the 60's, the dutch master improviser and composer played with Han Bennink and pianist Misha Mengelberg, and co-founded the Instant Composers Pool (ICP)... one of the strongholds of european new music.
In 1974 Breuker founded the Willem Breuker Kollektief which tours to this day, and has been his major outlet for the last 30 some years. An authority on Kurt Weill, Breuker's music is informed by theater and vaudeville amongst other influences. Breuker passed away in 2010 however his Kollektief is as strong as ever and the powerful 9-piece group is coming to non other than the NAC's Fourth Stage.

We do not get the chance to experience, and therefore to know all that well, music that has helped shape the music we do know, simply because it comes from far off. This is one of these instances. This group is full of monster players, the music is Breuker's own version of traditional jazz informed by improvised music (is another way of looking at this), and is one of the important artists of our time... and is guaranteed to be a killer show!

Here is a great video of the group lead by the master himself:

The Willem Breuker Kollektief performs in Ottawa 

Monday, Oct 1st, 2012

7:30pm

National Arts Center Fourth Stage,