Han Bennink
Drummer and multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink was born in Zaandam near Amsterdam in 1942. His first percussion instrument was a kitchen chair. Later his father, an orchestra percussionist, supplied him with a more conventional outfit, but Han never lost his taste for coaxing sounds from unlikely objects he finds backstage at concerts. He is still very fond of playing chairs.
In Holland in the 1960s, Bennink was quickly recognized as an uncommonly versatile drummer. As a hard swinger in the tradition of his hero Kenny Clarke, he accompanied touring American jazz stars, including Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin, Eric Dolphy and Dexter Gordon. He is heard with Gordon on the 1969 album Live at Amsterdam Paradiso (on the Affinity label) and with Dolphy on 1964's Last Date (PolyGram). At the same time, Bennink participated in the creation of a European improvised music which began to evolve a new identity, apart from its jazz roots. With fellow Dutch pioneers, pianist Misha Mengelberg and saxophonist Willem Breuker, he founded the musicians collective Instant Composers Pool in 1967. Bennink anchored various bands led by Mengelberg or Breuker, and appeared in their comic music-theater productions.
Bennink attended art school in the 1960s, and is also a successful visual artist in several media, often constructing sculpture from found objects, which may include broken drum heads and sticks. He has designed the covers for many LPs and CDs on which he appears. Bennink is represented by Amsterdam's Galerie Espace, and has been the subject of several one-man shows, including one at the Gemeente Museum in the Hague in 1995.
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- Rollins in Holland by Mike Jurkovic
- All Those Yesterdays by Mark Corroto
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- Monk Volume One by Mark Corroto
- Monk Volume One by John Kelman
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Read more articlesJuly 31, 2011
Armen Nalbandian to release new trio album with Nasheet Waits and Eric...
June 18, 2011
Ray Anderson, Han Bennink & Christy Doran: ABD on hatOLOGY
November 29, 2010
UCLA Live Presents Alice Coltrane Tribute Dec. 5 All-star evening...
April 09, 2008
Peter Brotzmann / Han Bennink Duo USA Tour April 16-28
January 15, 2008
Han Bennink to Join the Blueprint Project for CD Release Concerts in...
January 05, 2008
Armen Nalbandian & Han Bennink to Perform Duets on January 31st, 2008
August 29, 2006
Peter Brotzmann / Han Bennink Duo at Vision Club, October 6, 2006
January 07, 2005
Tonic NYC presents Han Bennink with John Zorn & Michiel Borstlap
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