Ben van Gelder Quintet ft. Jeff Ballard

Alto saxophonist and composer Ben van Gelder is internationally regarded as an authority on his instrument. Peers and critics praise his distinctive sound, his lyricism and his personal approach to composition. That approach has already earned him the Deloitte Jazz Award. It also produced the album Among Verticals, commissioned by the Jazz Gallery and based on a painting by the abstract painter František Kupka. At seventeen he moved to New York, where he played and studied with Ambrose Akinmusire and Lee Konitz, among others. There he formed a quintet with Sam Harris, Craig Weinrib, Rick Rosato and Peter Schlamb, recording three albums and touring Europe, Japan and the United States. He now shares the stage again with double bassist Rosato and vibraphonist Schlamb, in different line-ups. In the first set he plays mostly standards in a trio with Rosato and master drummer Jeff Ballard. In the second set Schlamb and guitarist Nelson Veras expand the trio into a quintet, performing exclusively original work. ‘Consoling music, reaching for the sublime’ (de Volkskrant)