2008 was a peak year for Benjamin Herman. With his 'dance orchestra' New Cool Collective he made Out Of Office, which was praised by almost all critics. Furthermore, the sympathetic alto saxophonist was voted Best Dressed Man of the Year by men's magazine Esquire and received an Edison Award for his album Campert. To top it all off, he released Hypochristmastreefuzz at the end of the year, just in
… time to immediately finish in first place on De Volkskrant's Jazz annual list. Hypochristmastreefuzz is not a Christmas CD; a good listener will already understand this from the subtitle: More Mengelberg. After Plays Misha Mengelberg, this is the second CD on which Herman plays compositions by the well-known (and ironic) Dutch impro-pianist and composer. Together with bassist Ernst Glerum and drummer Joost Patocka and guests Anton Goudsmit (guitar), Willem Friede (mellotron!) And Ruben Hein (vocals on the beautiful ballad De Sprong O Romantiek Der Hazen), he tackles ten Mengelberg pieces. The fun really splashes off. (HB)more
