THE MORE SOCIALLY RELEVANT JAZZ
MUSIC ENSEMBLE Not your average
jazz music ensemble.
mark schilders
ben van gelder
reinier baas
maarten hogenhuis
sean fasciani
drums
alto sax
guitar/compositions
alto sax
bass ‘The More
Socially Relevant Jazz Music
Ensemble’ is a brand new
‘all-‐star’ quintet, featuring five of
the most interesting young
musicians to hail from the
upper North-‐Western corner of the
mainland of Europe. Except for
the bass player, who is
from Massachusetts. The ‘Ensemble’,
the brainchild of Amsterdam based
guitarist Reinier Baas, has a
fresh, distinctive, raw and slightly
peculiar sound. With influences as
diverse as Ravel, Lennie Tristano,
Arctic Monkeys, Ornette Coleman,
Flying Lotus and Human Feel, their
music ranges from the intricate
and sophisticated, to the
downright danceable. The unusual,
full-‐stereo line-‐up (featuring two
alto saxophonists), edgy compositions
and the relentless pulse of
drummer Mark Schilders and
bassist Sean Fasciani, provide the
context for experiment and
improvisation.
Coming up in the spring of
2011 is the release of their
debut album ‘Homunculus’, recorded
at Fattoria Musica studios in
Osnabrück. ‘Homunculus’ will feature
an eclectic mix of Baas’
compositions, an arrangement of a
piece by Maurice Ravel, and
brutally disfigured adaptations of
some of the formerly most
harmless American Songbook repertoire.
BIO Reinier Baas (1985) is the
guitarist, composer, cook and
spiritual leader of the ‘More
Socially Relevant Jazz Music Ensemble’.
Recently graduated from the
Conservatory of Amsterdam with
the highest honors and a finalist
for the Deloitte Jazz Award
(2010), he is fast gaining
a reputation as one of Holland’s
most promising young players.
Other recent highlights include an
extensive UK tour with the Ben
Bryden quartet, Belgium tour with
New York-‐based collective ‘Bright
Noise’, and performances with
Hein van de Geyn, Jasper
Blom and Dave Douglas. He is
the brand new guitarist of
Stefan Lievestro’s renowned, testosterone
fueled powerhouse ‘Mona Lisa
Overdrive’.
Ben van Gelder (1988) is “the
biggest young Dutch jazz talent
of this moment” (Amanda Kuyper,
de Volkskrant) and winner of
the prestigious Deloitte Jazz
Award (2008). Despite his age,
he has played at many
important venues in New York and
Europe alike with very hip
cats, such as David Binney
and Ambrose Akinmusire, and performed
at the BIMhuis, Concertgebouw and
North Sea Jazz Festival with
his own groups. Ben is
currently working on his debut
album featuring Blue Note
recording pianist Aaron Parks. He
adds to the ‘Ensemble’ an
immense musical presence, which can
be felt even when he’s not
playing his horn.
Maarten Hogenhuis (1986) is one
of Holland’s most in demand
alto players. He recently appeared
with more or less everyone:
New Cool Collective, Ruben Hein,
Wicked Jazz Sounds Band, Pete
Philly & Perquisite, Renske
Taminiau, Jesse van Ruller, Amsterdam
Jazz
Orchestra, Alain Clark and Benjamin
Herman, to name a few. His
stunningly powerful and intuitive
playing has his peers shake their
head in disbelief, cry with
joy and laugh desperately at
the same time, and has been
a crucial part of Baas’
projects over the past years.
Sean Fasciani (1979) is in
charge of the lower spectrum of
the ‘Ensemble’. His rock-‐solid
bass playing and dapper manner
have also led him to share
the stage with other famous
people, like David Berkman, Jesse
van Ruller, Ferdinand Povel. In
2010, he toured Europe with
Will Vinson and Lage Lund. As
a member of the Franz von
Chossy trio, he has won
the Dutch Jazz Competition in
2005. Mr. Fasciani has played
everything from hip-‐hop (Pete Philly
& Perquisite), via Turkish folk
jazz (Fidan) to comedian Hans
Teeuwen’s insanely brilliant impressions
of the Sinatra repertoire.
Mark Schilders (1988) provides the
highly explosive, freight train-‐esque
grooves that are the fundament
of the ‘Ensemble’. The most
unlikely phenomenon to come out
of Waalwijk (North-‐Brabant) since
world-‐champion of billiards Rini
van Bracht, this incredible, young
drummer has a style all
his own. While he is still
struggling to pass his music
theory exams at the conservatory
of Rotterdam, he is one of
the most sought after drummers
on the Dutch scene and
appears regularly with Stefan
Lievestro, Harmen Fraanje and Wouter
Hamel. He has won the Prinses
Christina Concours in 2008 and,
as a member of the Castell/van
Damme quartet, the Dutch Jazz
Competition in 2010.