LOOT

LOOT, a four-letter word for a quartet: four angular lines, two circles. No diagonals. As an image it communicates hooks, clarity and strong counterpoint between the different shapes. Like the music presented.

LOOT in Dutch means branch: a new branch on the tree of the Amsterdam avant-garde piano tradition in the lineage of Misha Mengelberg, Guus Janssen, Cor Fuhler and Michiel Scheen. LOOT in English means stolen goods. Stolen jazz music by European improvisers.

Pianist Oscar Jan Hoogland’s LOOT features Ab Baars on tenor sax and clarinet, Uldis Vitols on bass and for tonight Jannes Deurvorst on drums. After twenty years spearheading the Amsterdam improv scene, Hoogland now presents his first full-length album of his original compositions. Released on the famous ICP label with a cover by Han Bennink, the album celebrates the avant-garde piano tradition of Thelonious Monk and Misha Mengelberg. Both complex and direct, this music awakens the ear and raises a smile.

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For a sound impression

Review (de Volkskrant)