The Blue Hour Sessions Rembrandt Frerichs Trio

• 1 Smile 05:25
• 2 Conception 03:55
• 3 Luiza 03:54
• 4 Goodbye 06:32
• 5 September Song 04:59
• 6 For All We Know 06:50
• 7 Basin Street Blues 05:13
• 8 Everything I Love 05:38
• 9 Detour Ahead 06:19
• 10 Daydream 06:12
• 11 Moonriver 05:02
• Total Runtime 59:59

Info for The Blue Hour Sessions

It is a magical listening experience: There are pieces in the rich, century-old jazz tradition that embrace you from the very first note — as if they’ve always been there. On The Blue Hour Sessions: Audiophile Jazz Recordings, Rembrandt Frerichs’ explores exactly those works that are closest to his heart. But don’t be misled: what may sound familiar at first listen reveals itself as richer, more layered, and more personal with every play.

While the repertoire consists of standards from the Great American Songbook — pieces the listener may recognize — the interpretations, true to the Rembrandt Trio’s style, are anything but predictable. These recordings weren’t born from a concept, but from a mood. The inspiration came from The Blue Hour — that magical moment between day and night when the world seems to pause. In photography, it refers to soft blue hues and diffused light; metaphorically, to a time of reflection. Rembrandt and his trio sought to capture exactly that feeling: music that expresses subtlety, that doesn’t shout but whispers. Standards you think you know, but here sound as if revealing themselves to you for the first time.

Joining Rembrandt is his long-time partner, drummer Vinsent Planjer, who brings his sensitive, silky percussion, in empathetic connection to the lead Rembrandt creates. Bassist Jos Machtel is new to the group since I last heard them, but his work is sensitive and combines well to the whole. These are seasoned musicians. Their playing is filled with nuance, the occasional wry ironic twist, and ever-present congeniality. Listening to this recording makes me wish to have been with them in the Muziekcentrum van de Omroep in Hilversum, but I am content in joining them from my listening room where I have every sense of them being right with me.

Which brings me to the sound of this wonderful recording by the great Jared Sacks. Jared continues to demonstrate why he is the master from whom so many other recording engineers have learned their trade. And he continues to eclipse them all in the utter naturalness he achieves. True to the sensibilities he has demonstrated over many decades and hundreds of recordings, Jared says of this recording: "Hopefully an album for the connoisseur and the dreamer alike. For those who listen with the mind—but especially with the heart."

"This is a very special album. Do not wait. Just get it now. If you have any affinity for exceptionally well-played and well-recorded small ensemble jazz, you will love this." (Rushton Paul, positive-feedback.com)

Rembrandt Trio:
Rembrandt Frerichs, piano
Jos Machtel, bass
Vinsent Planjer, drums

Rembrandt Frerichs Trio
Rembrandt Frerichs, Tony Overwater and Vinsent Planjer have been playing together in different projects and constellations for many years, returning to the basic shape of the trio every so often, as a balance point in their continuous development.

Rembrandt Frerichs, pianist and composer, is known for his broad perspective, his artistic journey constantly deepening into new territories. Rembrandt is familiar with American jazz tradition, but he avoids the well-trodden path. He’s deeply interested in art music from different parts of the world and investigates the limits of classical, improvised and world music, experimenting with the sounds of early music and oriental instruments, and bringing elements of baroque and Middle Eastern music into his compositions and improvisations.

Bass player Tony Overwater is an award-winning solo performer, leader of self-initiated projects and a collaborative sideman. Overwater developed a unique playing style on the acoustic bass which allows him to play the microtonality of the Arab scales, and had a copy of a 16th century six-string violone built especially for him to expand his sonal possibilities.

Drummer-percussionist Vinsent Planjer has found his voice in a wide range of musical settings. With an emphasis on jazz, he has also shared the stage with actors and dancers in the world of theater. As part of the Rembrandt Trio, Planjer developed his signature drum set, the so-called ‘Whisper Kit’; an eclectic mix of percussion instruments from all over the world, partly self-built.

The trio as a core group collaborated and recorded seven albums with many different artists from varying musical backgrounds, from their very first album in 2010 (Levantasy, with Yoram Lachish) to last year’s collaboration with Hossein Alizadeh on ‘Same Self, Same Silence’. But in between tours and collaborations, they always come back to their essence, recording three trio-albums in 2014, 2018 and 2019 respectively. ‘A Wind Invisible Sweeps Us Through The World’ is the fourth - documenting a growing bond between the three musicians, with more and more shared life to bring into their playing.

This album contains no booklet.