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Willem Breuker

Willem Breuker was a Dutch jazz bandleader, composer, arranger, saxophonist, and bass clarinetist. In 1967, with percussionist Han Bennink and pianist Misha Mengelberg, he co-founded the Instant Composers Pool (ICP), with which he regularly performed until 1973. He was a member of the Globe Unity Orchestra and the Gunter Hampel Group. In 1974 he began leading the 10-piece Willem Breuker Kollektief, which performed jazz in a theatrical and often unconventional manner, drawing elements from theater and vaudeville. With the group, he toured Western Europe, Russia, Australia, India, China, Japan, the United States, and Canada. He was also known as an authority on the music of Kurt Weill. In 1997 he produced, with Carrie de Swaan, a 48-hour, 12-part radio documentary on the life of Weill entitled Componist Kurt Weill. In 1974 he founded the record label BVHaast. Beginning in 1977, he organized the annual Klap op de Vuurpijl (Top It All) festival in Amsterdam. Haast Music Publishers, which he also operated, published his scores. In 1992, Editions de Limon published the book Willem Breuker by J. and F. Buzelin in France. Uitgeverij Walburg Pers published a Dutch translation in 1994. BVHaast published the book Willem Breuker Kollektief: Celebrating 25 Years on the Road, which includes two CDs, in 1999. In 1998, Breuker was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.


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228
Album Review

Willem Breuker Kollektief: At Ruta Maya Cafe

Read "At Ruta Maya Cafe" reviewed by Jeff Stockton


The picture on the back of the CD booklet for the Willem Breuker Kollektief's At Ruta Maya Café shows a low-lying, nondescript building that looks like an old Howard Johnson's. The website for the Austin venue mostly talks about its coffee business,with some live entertainment on the side. You would think, with over thirty years on the road, and having given performances across Western and Eastern Europe, Canada, Mexico, Russia and India, this Dutch tentet would be celebrating its history ...

261
Film Review

Faust: A Silent Movie (1926)

Read "Faust: A Silent Movie (1926)" reviewed by Andrey Henkin


F.W. Murnau Music by Willem Breuker Faust (1926) BVHaast 2005 F.W Murnau was one of the giants of the Silent Film Era. His most famous work is 1922's Nosferatu but his interpretation of the Faust legend was his most expansive work, also his last before leaving his native Germany. That Willem Breuker would choose to write new music for this film should surprise no one. ...

987
Interview

Willem Breuker

Read "Willem Breuker" reviewed by Andrey Henkin


Willem Breuker's music is an experience--part circus, part orchestra, part theater. The man himself is no less complex and some of his thoughts on being a musician bely his humour and good nature. At Joe's Pub this month with his long-standing Kollektief, Breuker spoke with All About Jazz. All About Jazz: Let's start at the beginning. Willem Breuker: I always wanted to play the piano but after the second world war Holland was a ...

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108

Obituary

Willem Breuker, Dutch Composer and Bandleader, Dies at 65

Willem Breuker, Dutch Composer and Bandleader, Dies at 65

Source: AAJ Staff

Willem Breuker, a Dutch composer, multireedist and bandleader whose jump-cut style and theatrical panache made him a contrarian hero of European jazz, died on July 23 in Amsterdam. He was 65. His death was announced on the Web site of his band, the Willem Breuker Kollektief. No cause was given. During more than 35 years at the helm of the Kollektief, a well-traveled ensemble of 10 or 11 pieces, Mr. Breuker pursued an almost textbook postmodern agenda. His compositions drew ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Willem Breuker...

BV Haast Records
2012

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At Ruta Maya Cafe

BVHAAST Records
2007

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The Compositions Of...

BV Haast Records
2006

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De Knop [The Button]

BV Haast Records
2006

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Jona

BV Haast Records
2005

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Faust, A Silent Movie...

BV Haast Records
2005

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