NEW RELEASE – ROB VAN BAVEL

Birthday piano maestro surrounds himself with a dynamic crew of Dutch partygoers.

Rob van Bavel possesses the special talent to always let you leave a concert elated, murmuring ‘uhm uhm uhm… this is just tóo good’, whether he plays Gershwin, Cannonball Adderley or an étude, even Christmas music, oh my sweet ‘n’ sour Lord. Unassuming and genial are his middle names. Dutch-Brabants to the core. Let the keys speak for themselves. Vote against self-congratulation.

A young lion from Breda, Van Bavel came into prominence (stunningly McCoy-ish) in the flamboyant Jarmo Hoogendijk/Ben van den Dungen Quintet in the early 1990’s and recorded sophisticated and swinging piano albums. He played with luminaries as Johnny Griffin and Woody Shaw. Over the years, Van Bavel has developed into a versatile pianist with classical tinges and delicate and dynamic toucher.

Van Bavel turned sixty. Plenty reason to celebrate. Sweet Sixty features a bunch of top-rate friends from the Dutch jazz realm, who acquit themselves very well, thank you. His pals from The Ghost, The King & I, bassist Frans van Geest and guitarist Vincent Koning, interact smoothly on Gershwin tunes with Van Bavel, whose intricate and meaty bass lines and nocturnal voicing take Our Love Is Here To Stay higher and higher. There is guitarist Martijn van Iterson, rarely heard on small ensemble recordings these days, who takes on Strayhorn’s Raincheck with customary gusto.

The lyrical, bittersweet trumpet of Jan van Duikeren is at the heart of Remembering The Rain/After The Rain, a stately blend of Bill Evans and John Coltrane, while young singer Anna Serierse (she’s the daughter of drummer-at-service Marcel Serierse) flexibly leads Van Bavel’s The Rain Is Gone.

A lot of ‘rains’ and ‘games’ on Sweet Sixty, which compiles two thematic ‘Rob van Bavel Invites…’ EP’s and a couple of new songs. Joe South’s Games People Play is a lively honky tonk romp, a deeply groovy mix of Van Bavel’s sassy runs on the keyboard and Rik Mol’s virile, jubilant trumpet playing. Van Bavel’s Faites Vos Jeux (‘play your games’, ‘do y’r thang’) is similarly smooth and groovy, a Nat Adderley-type, gospel-infused party tune, succinctly seasoned by tenor saxophonist Tom Beek.

Devil’s Game might best be described as Neo American Songbook, consisting of music by Van Bavel and sophisticated lyrics by Deborah J. Carter, perfect foil for her experienced, burnished voice. Van Bavel’s Game Changer is a plainly gorgeous ballad. The mix of melancholy and the sweet pain of longing and loving that Van Bavel, Mol and Beek put into it, cuts right to the bone. Already one of the top tracks of this year!

Then there’s The Winner Takes It All, surprising and sensitive vignette of Abba culture, somewhat reminiscent of forebear Louis van Dijk. At age 60, the new-fifty so they say, Rob van Bavel is playing at the top of his game.

Buy Sweet Sixty on Rob’s website here: https://www.robvanbavel.com/