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Reinier Baas

“From a country of irreverent and provocative jazzmen like Holland (homeland of fanciful “giants” as Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg or Willem Breuker) comes the passionate talent of young guitar wizard Reinier Baas.” ¹ He has been in charge of ‘The More Socially Relevant Jazz Music Ensemble’ since 2010, with which he toured in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. His second album with the quintet earned him the prestigious Edison Award in 2013.

His latest record – ‘Reinier Baas vs. Princess Discombobulatrix‘ – is a partly improvised mostly instrumental opera, for which he teamed up with world renowned illustrator Typex and a group of 14 classical and jazz musicians. For this album, Baas was awarded a second Edison in 2017.

Reinier has been granted composition assignments by November Music Festival and the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2015. In 2017, he was the Artist In Residence of the Südtirol Jazzfestival. In 2018, the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam gave him a carte blanche, which resulted in the ‘Gigantic Chamber Music Mini Festival’ – a program premiering his first String Quartet. As a soloist, he has performed with the Metropole Orchestra, New Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and Pynarello. As a sideman, he has performed with Han Bennink, Gregory Porter, Hans Teeuwen, Ben van Gelder and Benjamin Herman. Baas is on faculty at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and Siena Jazz in Italy.

Awards

Finalist Deloitte Jazz Award (2010)


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Live Review

Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2022

Read "Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2022" reviewed by Libero Farnè


Bolzano e provincia Varie sedi 24.6--3.7.2022 Quarant'anni di vita non sono pochi per un festival. Questo è il traguardo raggiunto dal Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige, che vede anche concludersi la solerte direzione artistica di Klaus Widmann, iniziata diciotto anni fa affiancando, poi subentrando a Nicola Ciardi, il fondatore della manifestazione bolzanina. Se nell'ultima decina di anni il festival altoatesino aveva privilegiato di volta in volta aree specifiche del jazz europeo (il ...

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Album Review

Antoine Pierre: Suspended (Live at Flagey)

Read "Suspended (Live at Flagey)" reviewed by Mario Calvitti


Although the Belgian music scene is rich and varied, it is much neglected outside its national borders, as evidenced by the case of Aka Moon, an extraordinary trio that has celebrated 25 years of activity, but is still practically ignored by the foreign media. Let's hope the same does not happen with this new young talent, the drummer Antoine Pierre, and his group Urbex, already among the main protagonists of the 2020 edition of the Brussels Jazz Festival.

Album Review

Antoine Pierre URBEX ELECTRIC: Suspended (Live at Flagey)

Read "Suspended (Live at Flagey)" reviewed by Mario Calvitti


Nonostante la scena musicale belga sia sempre eccezionalmente ricca e variegata, è ancora troppo colpevolmente trascurata al di fuori dei suoi confini nazionali, come dimostra il caso degli Aka Moon, uno straordinario trio che ha recentemente festeggiato i 25 anni di attività, ma è tuttora praticamente ignorato dai media stranieri. Speriamo non succeda lo stesso con questo nuovo giovane talento, il batterista Antoine Pierre, e il suo gruppo URBEX, già tra i principali protagonisti dell'ultima edizione del Festival Jazz di ...

2
Radio & Podcasts

Dave Holland, Louis Moholo, Ben Van Gelder, Emma Frank & Other New Releases

Read "Dave Holland, Louis Moholo, Ben Van Gelder, Emma Frank & Other New Releases" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


After three weeks of thematic episodes, we have to get back to checking what's new and what's coming up... The piles of new and upcoming releases have been building up and we could not wait any longer. So here's to a great episode with new, upcoming and reissued gems, featuring the music of Dave Holland, Zakir Hussain, Chris Potter, Ben Van Gelder, Reinier Baas, Emma Frank, Craig Taborn, Louis Moholo and many other creative minds. Happy listening! ...

Album Review

Reinier Baas, Ben van Gelder, Metropole Orkest: Smash Hits

Read "Smash Hits" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero


Il chitarrista Reinier Baas ed il sassofonista Ben van Gelder pur essendo ancora in giovane età (trentatré anni il primo, trenta il secondo) vantano già diversi riconoscimenti internazionali, numerose collaborazioni prestigiose, e un'intensa attività concertistica che solo nell'ultimo anno li ha visti condividere il palco oltre duecento volte (tra le quali le apprezzate esibizioni allo Young Jazz Festival di Foligno e alla Sala Vanni di Firenze).I brani presenti in Smash Hits--già presenti in altra veste nei precedenti album ...

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Building a Jazz Library

Forget Old Europe: 15 European Jazz Musicians You Need To Know About

Read "Forget Old Europe: 15 European Jazz Musicians You Need To Know About" reviewed by Enrico Bettinello


Since the first half of the 20th century, the Old Continent has played a pivotal role both in welcoming and supporting jazz artists from the United States. Over the following decades it has expressed generations of passionate musicians with increasingly original languages and ever greater improvisatory skills. In the 21st century there are countless excellent, professionally trained, jazz musicians all over Europe (as everywhere else in the world), ranging from the more mainstream boppers to the most radical ...

Live Review

Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2017

Read "Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2017" reviewed by Libero Farnè


Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige Bolzano e provincia Varie sedi 30.6-9.7.2017 Klaus Widmann concepisce il festival che dirige sempre più come un laboratorio, un tavolo da gioco su cui mescolare le carte, favorendo la sperimentazione e la creazione di formazioni inedite. I musicisti invitati, spesso titolari di un progetto specifico, si sono fermati a Bolzano per una settimana, mettendosi alla prova e cercando soluzioni musicali diverse. Ovviamente hanno dovuto spostarsi ovunque sul territorio provinciale, in quanto ...

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On 'More Socially Relevant Jazz Music':

“An organic sound, teeming with pleasure. [..] In the daring solo and duo pieces, Baas’ musical idiom appears to be without limits. His soulful sound on the ballads wins over hearts.” - Tim Sprangers for DE VOLKSKRANT **** (July 2011)

“An adventurous record on which Baas displays not only a surplus of technique, but also humor, guts and a flexible mind.” ��" Mischa Andriessen for DE TELEGRAAF (July 2011)

“A lot better than I was expecting from a few white dudes from Amsterdam.” ��" Random guy at REDDIT.COM (September 2011)

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Suspended (Live at...

OutNote Records
2020

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Smash Hits

Basta
2018

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Smooth Jazz Apocalypse

Mainland Records
2014

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Mostly Improvised...

Mainland Records
2013

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More Socially...

Mainland Records
2011

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In Tongues

From: Swart Waling Koolhaas
By Reinier Baas

Videos

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