Duo Baars Knuffke en Ig Henneman solo

It was composer, cornetist and 'conductor' Butch Morris who brought us together: "Ab, Kirk, you should meet and play together."

Now, ten years after Butch's death in 2013, the American cornetist Kirk Knuffke (NY) and I will play three concerts in the Netherlands:
Wed March 1 - Trio Baars Henneman Knuffke (POM Eindhoven),
Thu March 2 - Duo Baars Knuffke & Ig Henneman solo (Splendor Amsterdam)
Fri March 3 - Kirk + Ab Baars Trio (Roze Tanker Amsterdam).

These will be spontaneous musical encounters in which improvisation and composition will determine the musical course.

Kirk Knuffke (Denver 1980)
Originally from Colorado, self-taught Knuffke began playing with Butch Morris after landing in NYC in 2005. This friendship resulted in 4 recordings and several European tours. Knuffke then joined the celebrated Matt Wilson Quartet in 2009, recording Gathering Call (Palmetto) featuring John Medeski. Knuffke has benefited from long-term mentorship from both Ron Miles and Ornette Coleman. He also currently performs with Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Sifter with Mary Halvorson and Wilson, and groups led by Charlie Hunter, Ben Allison, Ray Anderson, Mark Helias, Bill Goodwin, Karl Berger, Michael Bisio and Ted Brown.

Ab Baars (Axel 1955)
Dutch musician-composer and bandleader Ab Baars performs on tenor saxophone, clarinet and shakuhachi. He focuses mainly on Ab Baars Solo, Fish Scale Sunrise, Perch Hen Brock & Rain, Ab Baars Trio, Duo Baars-Henneman, the ICP Orchestra and his latest trio BaarsBuisDeman. In reviews Baars’ music has been characterized as joyfully obstinate, but surely appealing and as colourful as it is astonishing. It embodies the best typically Dutch improvised music has to offer. Although he seldomly uses recognizable song forms or ongoing swing rhythms, the music stays catchy, because it is stripped to the essence and clearly presented.

Ig Henneman viola solo: SOLAMENTE
Solamente is a program born from a head full of music: improvisation, memory, imagination, composition and intuition. My creative career started like this: weekend back alone in the parental home, the Rolling Stones were put on, the viola unpacked and playing away. Many decades later after intense years as a composer/improviser and bandleader of many groups, it now beckons again to sound just my viola.

Ig Henneman (Haarlem 1945)
'What Henneman creates cannot be described with a pen. Transverse, dissonant, ever-changing.... It is music without a home base ....' - Bas van Putten
Her work as a bandleader-improviser has taken her to the far corners of the planet and has been recorded on many CDs. In addition, Henneman has an international career as a composer in the world of contemporary music. She runs the record label Wig together with reed player Ab Baars with whom she also has a long-running improvisation duo.

Ab Baars - tenorsax clarinet shakuhachi
Kirk Knuffke - cornet
Ig Henneman - viola