Zaal 100
Serendipitously, the apartment Laura and I lived in during our 2024 Amsterdam stay was around the corner from an established creative music venue and community center called “Zaal 100,” near the “de Wittenkade” tram stop. Tuesday nights there have been a “Jazzcafé” for quite a while, at least 10+ years (probably longer), which have featured many (most?) of the improvisers on the scene in Amsterdam, and occasionally artists visiting from outside the Netherlands. Once I realized how close this venue was to me, and that every Tuesday featured some great improv by seasoned artists, I made a point of attending almost every Tuesday that I was in town and available. Here are some pictures and details from five shows I went to in October and November 2024.
October 1
Brouskari, Klein, and Maskell-Key in the moment…with my shoes at the bottom of the frame…
The first show I attended was a trio with (now) friend Tobias Klein on bass and contrabass clarinet, with Lida Brouskari on piano and Jacob Maskell-Key on drum set. It was a great intro to the scene and the venue—Tobias is a veteran of the scene, the other players younger. Really sensitive playing, the sort of free improv I’ve come to enjoy and try to create when I’m performing. The sets at Zaal 100 are usually pretty tight time-wise, with the shows usually being about two hours in length, total, with two hour-or-less sets and a nice break in the middle to grab a drink and chat with everyone. I had sort of cyber-stalked Tobias prior to the concert this night and also knew he was a friend of my friend Oğuz, so I mustered up the courage to introduce myself to him at the break…which was a great idea, because I also met his partner, fellow bass clarinetist Fie Schouten, and made a connection that led to a fun jam session (the results of which you can hear HERE) and staying connected with both Tobias and Fie. I hosted them this past January here at BYU for a concert and other activities.
October 8
Kimman, Nutters, Prins, and van Bergen freely exploring the studio space…
Many of the groups at Zaal 100 included a mix of Netherlands-born musicians with other guests or expat residents of Amsterdam…BUT NOT TONIGHT :). At least according to Koen Nutters, the organizer of the group and the night’s program—this was an all-Netherlander-quartet…all known veterans of the Amsterdam improv and composition scene, including Nutters on bass, Peter van Bergen on sax, Jeroen Kimman on guitar, and Gert-Jan Prins on drum set and electronics. One thing that made this night different from the others was that this group was presenting their interpretation/arrangements of charts/tunes/pieces by other composers, including Carla Bley and Michelle Alexander. I suppose it gave a sort of shape to each piece, whether we in the audience were aware of or familiar with which piece they were actually interpreting (maybe?). The night had a nice balance to it, with the group presenting two tunes before the break, and two tunes after. I don’t remember exactly who each of the tunes were by, but particularly enjoyed the one by Michelle Alexander (mentioned above), which seems to have grown out of The Names’ recording of her music HERE (The Names being Nutters, Kimman, and Prins, not including van Bergen), AND…seems somewhat mysterious (?) since the Michelle Alexander to which they refer is an American writer, attorney, and civil-rights activist, and as far as I can tell is not a musical composer or performer… :) …so…what were these so called “tunes” anyway? Alas, it was a great night of beautiful music.
October 12
Groven, Rave, Ng, Navarro, and Lumley raising the temp in the zaal…
OK, breaking slightly from the “Tuesday night Jazz Café” schedule, this was a Saturday night when our friends Jordan and Joanna Harmon were in town. We had seen the concert “Marta Warelis and friends” the previous night at the Bimhuis, which included alto saxophonist Karen Ng from Toronto, CA. This Saturday show advertised a “freak rock” group from Denmark, Kakao Intens, which looked interesting…I didn’t realize the other group was (similar to Tuesday night lineups) a stellar group of Amsterdam-based improvisers with Ng joining them, including Ng on alto sax and Bb clarinet, Ada Rave on tenor sax (always love her tin-can-in-the-bell mute), Marielle Groven on violin, Nasim López-Palacios Navarro on drums, and Aaron Lumley on bass. Really a killer lineup, and great playing all around, including some softer/chill/thinner moments in spite of the group’s size. I find that with free improv, once you get past three performers, it can get AND stay pretty dense and loud if people aren’t listening and sensitive. This was a good group that of course sometimes really brought it and put it out there with an onslaught of sound, but also created delicate moments. But…here’s a clip of the more onslaught-y type:
The group that followed, Kakao Intens, seemed less a “freak rock” band and more a, well, free improv group :) YAY ZAAL 100! Basically two on-lap electric guitarists using all sorts of implements/methods/etc. to coax/rip/force all manner of sounds out of their instruments, with a drum set player responding/supporting/thwarting/etc. Interesting sounds, and exactly the sort of thing that’s on brand for Zaal 100. As they say in Danish, “"Længe leve fri improvisation!"
The Kakao Intens fellas getting things really dark and rich…
October 29
Chientaroli, Vatcher, and Rave making some nice noise…
By tonight’s concert I had already seen tenor sax improviser Ada Rave, and would see her again on November 15 at Splendor with Anne La Berge and others…always great to hear her play, and tonight she was with her partner Nico Chientaroli (piano/electronics) and jazz/improv veteran Michael Vatcher (drum set). Another great night at the Zaal.
November 12
Oğuz rocking the shades and the Selmer alto clarinet…
It’s perhaps fitting that my last entry re. Zaal 100 includes my friend Oğuz Büyükberber, one of the musicians that drew me to The Netherlands and that I had the pleasure of hanging with on a regular basis while there. He was invited to join visiting artist Lisa Cay Miller (pianist from Canada) and others that night for…YOU GUESSED IT…some free improv sets :). Unfortunately Miller was unable to join because of illness :( BUT the group was joined by Amsterdam-based pianist Nora Mulder in Miller’s place, and also featured Marielle Groven on violin, Giuseppe Doronzo on bari sax, and an Amsterdam/Zaal 100 regular Aaron Lumley on bass. Great vibes, sounds, communication, etc. Here’s a pic of the whole group:
Mulder, Groven, Büyükberber, Doronzo, and Lumley…doing the thing…
Parting shots…
I think it would be difficult for most anyone to NOT enjoy living in Amsterdam for four months, especially with a nice apartment (thanks to Laura, Ned, and Kobe at Leaseaway.nl for the help with that!) and money to buy food and pay for transportation. But add to that living about 30 steps from ye olde Zaal 100, an Amsterdam institution when it comes to free improv and creative music, and you have PERFECTION. Great memories!
