Sebastiaan van Bavel & Rob van Bavel - Quatre Mains (2022) [Hi-Res]

Jazz pianist Rob van Bavel (1965) graduated from the Rotterdam Conservatory in 1987 with the highest distinction. With his more than brilliant playing he won many awards, such as second prize at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition, the Wessel Ilcken Prize and an Edison. He released more than a hundred albums as a bandleader and sideman. He toured throughout Europe, Canada, USA, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea and Siberia. He has performed with greats such as Woody Shaw, Randy Brecker, Bobby Watson, Eric Alexander and Johnny Griffin in recent decades. As a teacher he is loved and connected to the conservatories of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam.
Four hands
He recently released two beautiful productions, each with its own approach: 'Quatre Mains' with his son Sebastiaan (1992) and 'Dutch Connection' with double bassist Joris Teepe (1962). 'Quatre Mains' contains arrangements of classical music and 'Dutch Connection' is filled with standards, pieces by colleagues and own compositions. The collaboration with his son Sebastiaan on the first CD is more than special. Playing four hands is something that is rare in jazz: for years father and son have practiced and refined this art together behind the grand piano. A number of recordings of this have been released before, but what the duo shows on their new album has never been seen before. The production contains original visions of classical compositions such as Gabriel Fauré's 'Dolly Suite' and Maurice Ravel's five-part 'Ma Mère l'Oye'. The icing on the cake is 'Suite no.1' by Sebastiaan.
Stocking feet
Gabriel Fauré composed the playful 'Dolly Suite' around 1895 for singer Emma Bardac, his future wife. It is a playful piece that receives a feather-light adaptation from the duo, full of love and dedication. Something that also applies to the arrangement of 'Ma Mère l'Oye', Ravel's 'Mother de Goose' suite from 1910. The composer shows how he moves into the soul of a child without being a parent himself. He wrote the piece for the children Jean and Mimie of his friends Ida and Cipa Godebski. Father and son manage to give the right color and nuance to the simple and tender melodies. Extremely fragile music that is played in stocking feet by the duo.
Finger dexterity
Perhaps the biggest surprise is Sebastiaan van Bavel's own 'Suite no. 1', a piece in which jazz and classical meet. The composition starts with the sturdy 'Intrada' and then passes into the characteristic 'Blues', a familiar territory for every true jazz musician. The Van Bavels provide a passionate speech here and then take a breather in 'Intermezzo'. The suite closes with 'Toccata', the term for a virtuoso instrumental composition without a fixed form. Father and son move with dexterity in a breathtaking four-handed exercise in which musical boundaries are broken down.