Trilogyc : Greetje Bijma, Jasper Van’t Hof, Hans Fickelscher – Abstract Uncertainty

Trilogyc : Greetje Bijma, Jasper Van’t Hof, Hans Fickelscher – Abstract Uncertainty

Analog recording from the MPS studio in Villingen, 2021. Recording with the legendary Black Forest sound. High-quality vinyl, 180-gram vinyl in gatefold. The MPS label helped shape post-war music history in Germany: from the Black Forest emerges noble music productions featuring many international greats. The HGBSBlue label releases old and new recordings with artists from the MPS history on high-quality vinyl. Jasper van’t Hof is one of the greats of European jazz. Born in Enschede, the Netherlands, in 1947, he has been a presence on the scene for over 50 years. As early as 1971, he recorded his first album for the MPS label with the legendary group Association PC, making him one of the pioneers of jazz-rock in Europe. Fifty years later, he returned to the MPS Studio in the Black Forest to create a very special recording in 2021, drawing on his years of experience. Together with Dutch singer Greetje Bijma and German percussionist Hans Fickelscher, he played music in Villingen that, for two days, firmly anchored in jazz, yet completely transcended boundaries: jazz, folkloric, classical, and theatrical elements alternated beautifully without ever becoming dull. Far from routine, the music between the pianist, the exceptional singer—whose vocal range and timbre never cease to fascinate—and the sensitive percussionist is free, effortless, and always full of surprises. Musical acrobatics are presented in an entertaining way. Music that arouses curiosity and reveals how complex and subtle sounds can be amidst abstract uncertainty, as the album’s title suggests. The trio’s music was entirely improvised and recorded analogously. “We experience a world theater that all three perform in the studio—without a script, without a score, without lyrics,” writes Bert Noglik, the renowned German jazz journalist, in his liner notes. The veteran on the piano, the expressive singer who constantly reinvents himself, and the sensitive drummer, who studied with Pierre Favre, improvise with an almost magical intensity that continually amazes the listener. Virtuoso and full of surprises: a compelling example of contemporary European jazz.