Han Bennink

Born in Zaandam, the Netherlands on April 17, 1942, Han Bennink is a free jazz drummer. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who has also played clarinet, violin, banjo, and piano on some of his recordings. Han Bennink is now regarded as a pivotal figure in European free jazz and free improvisation. The son of a classical percussionist, he was playing both drums and clarinet by the time he reached his teens. He played drums and percussion with local musicians and, throughout the 1960s, he played with visiting American jazz artists. These artists, considered the cream of the jazz crop, included Wes Montgomery, Dexter Gordon, Eric Dolphy, and Sonny Rollins. He formed his own quartet – featuring Misha Mengelberg (piano) and Piet Noordijk (saxophone) - in 1963 and played the Newport Jazz Festival three years later. In 1967, Han Bennink was a co-founder of the Instant Composers Pool alongside Mengelberg and Willem Breuker (saxophone/clarinet). In the mid-1970s, he formed a trio with Peter Brötzmann (saxophone) and Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove. That trio was short-lived when Van Hove left in 1976, but the two remaining member continued as a duo. He collaborated with Dutch post-punk band The Ex in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, recording with them and touring Ethiopia. In the 1990s, Han Bennink joined Clusone 3 with Michael Moore (saxophone/clarinet) and Ernst Reijseger (cello). He has also collaborated with more conventional jazz artists like Lee Konitz and free jazz musicians such as Don Cherry. He also found time to record his own albums as a leader including Solo (1970), Nerve Beats (1973), Tempo Comodo (1982), and Parken (2009).

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