This is Our Music – Artist portrait Jasper Stadhouders

Jasper Stadhouders
Featured Ensemble for Doek Festival 2018
Stadhouders, Oliver, Vitols, ‘t Hart, Rosaly
Friday June 15 – Bimhuis

Jasper Stadhouders is one of the newest members of Doek and belongs to the youngest generation of Dutch improvisers. Since arriving in Amsterdam, Jasper has exploded onto the international improvised music scene. His playing showcases a completely natural musicality. One has the sense that he is so connected with his instrument he can play whatever he imagines. His ability to perform difficult compositions, with an assured sense of rhythm and harmony, combined with his extremely physical and dynamic approach to improvising, has led to him being one of the most sought after guitarists and electric bassists around.
Jasper is leader or co-leader of the ensembles the PolyBand, Cactus Truck, Stadhouders / Govaert / de Joode, Shelter (Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Steve Heather); is a long-standing member of Ken Vandermark’s Made to Break, Spinifex, o k a p i, and has toured with such bands as The Ex, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Chicago Sextet, the Bureau of Atomic Tourism. Jasper has worked in various settings with Han Bennink, Ab Baars, Paal Nilssen-Love, Marshall Allen, Hamid Drake, C. Spencer Yeh, Akira Sakata, Noel Redding, Andrew D’Angelo, Roy Campbell, Jeb Bishop, Mars Williams to name just a few. Given a carte blanche at the Incubate festival in 2015 he put together an all star tentet, the Jasper Stadhouders International Improv’ Ensemble, featuring such musicians as Mette Rasmussen, Edoardo Marraffa and the late Johannes Bauer.

Stadhouders, Oliver, Vitols, ‘t Hart, Rosaly
• Mary Oliver viola and viola; Jasper Stadhouders guitar; Uldis Vitols double bass; Frank Rosaly drums; Harpo ‘t Hart analogue modular synthesizer

For this year’s Doek Festival I’ll present a new quintet, which has been on my mind for over a year, with a slightly unusual instrumentation. Three acoustic string instruments, acoustic drums and percussion, and a self-made analogue modular synthesizer. We’ll play new and re-arranged older compositions, for which improvisation is key. The compositions will mainly serve as suggestions of what could be played, not what should be played. The people in this group are all excellent improvisers, therefore the decision making process within the composed material will be inspired by what feels the most appropriate on the spur of the moment. The form of the music will be less linear/horizontal and more modular/vertical. There’ll be a strong focus on the contrast between the directness of the acoustic instruments and the process-managing “indirectness” of the electronic modular synthesizer. With these musicians and this instrumentation, sonic possibilities are limitless.

Jasper Stadhouders