Recollection Epoxy Quartet
Album info
Album-Release:
2025
HRA-Release:
07.02.2025
Album including Album cover
- 1 Arecibo 06:21
- 2 Made 05:54
- 3 Mettā 04:59
- 4 Out of Reach 08:33
- 5 Shelter 05:49
- 6 Three Strikes Out 03:41
- 7 The Clearing 05:43
- 8 Last Chance 05:42
- 9 Daybreak 04:36
- 10 Inertia 04:40
Info for Recollection
This album consists of 9 pieces based on scenes, photos, people, and experiences from my own life, plus two free improvisations. Although they are my personal memories, we recollect these experiences collectively as we translate them into sound. I share my personal experiences with the ensemble using materials ranging from graphic scores and written melodies, to photos and stories. I invite the others to individually interpret what I offer them. These materials function as unfinished compositions and as such challenge us to creatively connect our own ideas and sounds to the music, over and over again. To deal with this freedom in a musical way, we developed strategies for collective improvisation during a two-year artistic research process focussed on the Dutch tradition of free improvisation from the 1960s. This combination of recollection and improvisation has resulted in a record that is playful and personal, yet has an evocative, nostalgic, and impressionist character.
Our name, Epoxy Quartet, refers to my grandfather Joop Gijsman who spent a large part of his life pioneering the production and development of epoxy in the Netherlands. This debut release is dedicated to him. It means a lot to the me that my grandfather was able to listen to this record in the final days of his life. For the album artwork, Conor Hunter used a Hasselblad CM-500 to photograph the Oosterscheldekering, the largest storm surge barrier of the Dutch Delta Works, that was constructed with epoxy from my grandfather’s factory.
Epoxy Quartet:
Koen Gijsman, piano
Kasper Rietkerk, saxophone
Kim Jäger, cello
Martijn van Ditshuizen, clarinet
Tuomas Ruokonen, drums
Epoxy Quartet
is a project led by Dutch pianist and composer Koen Gijsman. In their music, the ensemble investigates the overlap between free improvisation and contemporary composition. While their dynamic and interplay are reminiscent of Dutch free improv groups such as the ICP Orchestra, the ensemble’s lyrical and narrative sound is inspired by contemporary artists such as Little North, Melismetiq, Oded Tzur, and Trygve Seim. Epoxy Quartet provides space to four up and coming jazz performers – Koen Gijsman, Kasper Rietkerk, Tuomas Ruokonen, and Kim Jäger – who are all experienced improvisers and composers in their own right. Together they fuse to a powerful unity – just like the chemicals that produce epoxy.
The name, Epoxy Quartet, refers to Koen Gijsman's grandfather Joop Gijsman who spent a large part of his life pioneering the production and development of epoxy in the Netherlands. This debut release is dedicated to him. "It means a lot to me that my grandfather was able to listen to this record in the final days of his life." - Koen Gijsman.
For the album artwork, Conor Hunter used a Hasselblad CM-500 to photograph the Oosterscheldekering, the largest storm surge barrier of the Dutch Delta Works, that was constructed with epoxy from his grandfather’s factory.
This album contains no booklet.