"...Oh! What a group! Time was upended, suspended, ingested and befriended ... Playing an all-Monk program is an ambitious challenge for any and all who dare to try to have that much serious fun. This Pentagram of the Possible delivered a very satisfying evening of close listening and radical chances..." (avantmusicnews.com, Monique Avakian).
"Collective improvisation is a strong feature of Thelonious4. In those moments energy, playfulness and creativity are so much visible. (...) When musical structures fade, the band makes a very strong impression. (…) Apart from strong individual contributions to the music, Thelonious4 always put collective sound in the first place" (Armand van Wijck, Jazzenzo.nl)...
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"...Oh! What a group! Time was upended, suspended, ingested and befriended ... Playing an all-Monk program is an ambitious challenge for any and all who dare to try to have that much serious fun. This Pentagram of the Possible delivered a very satisfying evening of close listening and radical chances..." (avantmusicnews.com, Monique Avakian).
"Collective improvisation is a strong feature of Thelonious4. In those moments energy, playfulness and creativity are so much visible. (...) When musical structures fade, the band makes a very strong impression. (…) Apart from strong individual contributions to the music, Thelonious4 always put collective sound in the first place" (Armand van Wijck, Jazzenzo.nl)
"...This is a group that plays as an organic unit, but still has the refreshing idiosyncratic individualism that characterized Monk's music" (Jakob Baekgaard, All About Jazz)
"By taking headstrong sidesteps these five musicians provide a musical journey full of discoveries for the listener" (Hessel Fluitman, Jazzflits 2013)
Jazzquartet Thelonious4 (www.thelonious4.com) plays compositions of Thelonious Monk in a truly unique way with an interesting, international personnel: saxophones/clarinets (Iman Spaargaren/NL), guitar/effects (Guillermo Celano/Argentina), double bass (Andreas Metzler/D) and drums (Jurjen Bakker/NL).
In April 2013 Thelonious4 releases the fresh, free and inspiring third album 'Thelonious4 meets Tony Miceli' with virtuoso vibraphone player Tony Miceli from Philadelphia, USA. The CD will be released on Dot Time Recordlabel (dottimerecords.com). They do a show case at Jazzahead 2013 and in October 2013 follows the USA Tour to Philadelphia, New York, Washington DC, etc. In 2015 Thelonious4 and Tony Miceli play their European Tour.
Vibraphonist Tony Miceli, whose playing has been compared with the legendary Milt Jackson and Gary Burton, has performed with numerous top musicians including David Liebman. Also, Miceli is a sought after master teacher throughout the world.
“Tony Miceli is a vibraphonist of astonishing virtuosity, musical resilience, and inventiveness. Miceli is prone to experiment, but his creative impulses are well-considered and rooted in tradition. ” – Vic Schermer, All About Jazz
In 2011 Thelonious4 has released the 2nd CD: 'Live at the Hot House'. The recordings were done during a magnificent concert at Hot House in Leiden, Holland. The energy and musical adventure leave you in astonishment!
Iman Spaargaren (www.imanspaargaren.nl), Young VIP in 2012, plays saxophones and (bass)clarinet. Iman performs regularly with Iman Spaargaren Undercurrent, TRUNK. and European Union Quartet (jazzquartet.eu).
Guillermo Celano (guillermocelano.com) won the North Sea Jazzfestival Composition Prize (2014) plays guitar and has his own projects Celano-Baggiani Group with Joachim Badenhorst and clemens van der Feen, Lilly's Deja Vu with Ingrid Laubrock and Jasper Stadhouders.
Andreas Metzler (www.jazzamsterdam.org), double bassplayer pur sang, is an all round player. New Solutions is one of his promising groups.
Jurjen Bakker was the versatile drummer of jazzquintet Quincey.
More information about Thelonious 4 can be found on www.thelonious4.com
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