Henk de Jonge Trio

Dutch pianist Henk de Jonge joined the Willem Breuker Kollektief in 1981, but this was his first album as a leader. Though this is decidedly a jazz record, de Jonge seems equally at home in the classical idiom and makes several allusions to that field here, quite clearly in pieces like "Strauss Jr." Then again, with the Kollektief he'd been known to inject snatches of Tchaikovsky into an otherwise Cecil Taylor-ish solo! His compositions also tend to have a smooth, classical veneer, very clean and lucid, sometimes reminding the listener of Lennie Tristano. His regular trio of the time, including the fine Kollektief drummer Rob Verdurmen, is joined for this session by Breuker, to excellent effect. He reins in his normal comic impulses and contributes some soulful playing, especially his tenor on "Mother's Day-Dream." Although Breuker unleashes a torrent of Evan Parker-like soprano on the final number, on the whole this album is a much more mainstream offering than a standard Kollektief album of the same time. Still, it contains enough wit and creative playing to make for very worthwhile listening.