Chris Abelen

Chris Abelen

Musicians | Instrument: Trombone | Location: Amsterdam

A gospel for those consigned to cubicle life, Chris Abelen’s new album captures the angst and ennui of the career office employee. The trombonist’s octet maintains a whimsical tone throughout, but nothing about the lyrics give the impression of irony.
—Bandcamp Jazz Pick

Updated: December 26, 2021

Born: September 29, 1959

Dutch trombonist Chris Abelen (Tilburg, the Netherlands 29 september 1959) started out on trumpet at 11, switching to the bigger horn at 18. He studied classical trombone with Charles Toet and Henri Aarts, and then jazz and improvised music with Willem van Manen, founding member of and first trombonist with the Willem Breuker Kollektief, the band that first called global attention to Dutch improvised music. In 1984, Abelen took over van Manen’s old chair in the Kollektief from short-timer Garrett List, and would tour and record extensively with that band till 1988.

But Abelen had the urge to lead his own groups. At Willem Breuker’s annual Klap op de Vuurpijl festival in 1992, he led a pan-generational, pan-stylistic international tentet (including Ab Baars and Paul Termos in the reeds, tubist Larry Fishkind and Michael Vatcher on drums), showcasing the players with mini-concertos that demonstrate Abelen’s preoccupations with color, texture and mood, as well as his wry indirect sense of humor. The proof’s on the CD Proost (BVHaast).

But that was a one-shot ensemble. Abelen wanted a band. His first post-WBK working group had been a sextet including tenor saxophonist Tobias Delius and bassist Wilbert de Joode, which debuted on an earlier Klap op de Vuurpijl festival (1989). That evolved into a quartet with drummer Martin van Duynhoven—you can hear that lineup on the live title track to Abelen’s 2011 digital sampler Plint—later replaced by Charles Huffstadt. With the Proost tentet’s Corrie van Binsbergen added on electric guitar, this group became the leader’s signature outfit, the Chris Abelen Quintet, another band of distinct individual voices. The pieces could be highly melodic and/or densely busy, and the spontaneous arrangements were fluid, with no fixed solo routines. The composer/leader functioned as traffic cop on trombone: setting the tempos, calling back the melodies. A few pieces from the Quintet’s 1996 debut Dance of the Penguins return on 1999’s What a Romance, to make plain that fluidity and instant arranging. The 2004 follow-up Space was for another tentet: the Quintet plus Ab Baars on clarinet and the Zapp String Quartet.

Over the years Chris Abelen has also toured and recorded with numerous Dutch jazz and new music ensembles, including Willem van Manen’s Contraband, I Compani, Paradise Regained Orchestra, Eric van der Westen Octet, Dick de Graaf Septet, and J.C. Tans + Rockets. After leaving the Willem Breuker Kollektief, he assisted Breuker in preparing parts for performance and scores for publication. As an outgrowth of that work, Chris now works as a professional engraver, serving publishers such as Boosey & Hawkes (London), Donemus and Universal; orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Asko/Schönberg Ensemble and Metropole Orchestra; and other composers including Louis Andriessen, Martijn Padding, Willem Jeths, Geert van Keulen, Elmer Schönberger and Bernard van Beurden.

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Take Five With...

Take Five with Chris Abelen

Read "Take Five with Chris Abelen" reviewed by Chris Abelen


About Chris Abelen Chris Abelen started, as many trombonists, with the trumpet (at the age of 11). At the age of 18 he switched to the trombone. He studied classical trombone with Charles Toet and Henri Aarts, and after four years moved to jny: Amsterdam to study jazz and improvised music with Willem van Manen, former 1st trombonist of the Willem Breuker Kollektief. When Van Manen left, Abelen started to perform with the Kollektief in the summer of ...

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Recording

Trombonist Chris Abelen Releases 'The Audience Is Growing'

Trombonist Chris Abelen Releases 'The Audience Is Growing'

Source: Chris Abelen

This project comes with a story. (I read somewhere stories are very 2020.) It’s a story about why someone would pick the slide trombone. It’s a cool instrument, has a great sound, and it looks good on TV with the slide moving back and forth. But it also comes with built-in limitations, compared to, say, trumpet. You’ll never play as fast as a trumpet player can. Trumpet, it takes one push on a valve to change a note; on trombone ...

2

Recording

Trombonist Chris Abelen releases 'Live At The Bim' Featuring Lorena Del Mar

Trombonist Chris Abelen releases 'Live At The Bim' Featuring Lorena Del Mar

Source: Chris Abelen

A live recording of the Songs on the eve of dismissal concert on June 23, 2019 at the Bimhuis in jny: Amsterdam. Songs on the eve of dismissal, as the title suggests, is a project about working in an office, and the main emotions involved in present-day office life: fear and loss of individuality. With millions of people worldwide trying to survive the next reorganization while doing their job, this is a serious subject which connects to a large group; ...

5

Recording

Trombonist Chris Abelen Releases "Songs On The Eve Of Dismissal"—Commentary On Present-Day Office Life

Trombonist Chris Abelen Releases "Songs On The Eve Of Dismissal"—Commentary On Present-Day Office Life

Source: Chris Abelen

Songs on the eve of dismissal, as the title suggests, is a project about working in an office, and the main emotions involved in present-day office life: fear and loss of individuality. With millions of people worldwide trying to survive the next reorganization while doing their job, this is a serious subject which connects to a large group; at the same time, not many songs have been written about it—up to now, that is! Sad songs, but high-spirited ones as ...

3

Recording

Trombonist Chris Abelen Releases "A Day At The Office"

Trombonist Chris Abelen Releases "A Day At The Office"

Source: Chris Abelen

Trombonist Chris Abelen doesn’t think (or talk) like other composer bandleaders—the kind who work to further their careers. He lives just outside jny: Amsterdam, and is plugged into the scene there, but he isn’t one for hanging in the Bimhuis café till all hours, or mounting bands to play international summer festivals. He has a disarming habit of describing his process as chaotic, or plain nuts: When I put this bassist and drummer together, each wrongly assumed the other would ...

Band camp Jazz Pick - Jan. 2018 (Songs on the eve o dismissal) A gospel for those consigned to cubicle life, Chris Abelen’s new album captures the angst and ennui of the career office employee. The trombonist’s octet maintains a whimsical tone throughout, but nothing about the lyrics give the impression of irony. The vocal delivery of Lorena del Mar creates an intriguing tonal contrast between the delivery of the lyrics and their meaning, an effect amplified by some lovely harmonic work between trumpet, trombone, alto and baritone saxophones. Minus the choir, this project has a lot of similarities to that of Max Andrzejewski´s HÜTTE and The Homegrown Organic Gospel Choir treatise to the love of food… a Bandcamp Jazz pick from back in the day. -Dave Sumner

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Music

bye bye bloomingdale

From: bye bye bloomingdale
By Chris Abelen

Huub

From: A Day At The Office
By Chris Abelen

Fix

From: A Day At The Office
By Chris Abelen

Hoover

From: Dance of the penguins
By Chris Abelen