Together with his brothers
Marius (double bass) and
Alexander (saxophone), pianist Peter Beets is an indispensable member of contemporary Dutch jazz. Among other things, he is a member of the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, but also took on the role of the late avant-gardist
Misha Mengelberg on the unsurpassed album
ICP055. With his hero
Oscar Peterson in mind, Beets made a number of successful
… albums throughout his career on which he interprets classical composers such as Chopin (Chopin Meets The Blues from 2010) and Gershwin (Our Love Is Here To Stay from 2019). In addition to the composers mentioned in the title, this time on Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov And All That Jazz, he puts Russian masters such as Rimsky-Korsakov and Prokofiev to his hand. Originally heavy and bombastic material, which under Beets' supple hands takes on bluesy undertones and begins to swing. Virtuoso and atmospherically played piano jazz that brings to mind not only Peterson but also the Dutch pianist and television icon Pim Jacobs. Beets would have used this to shine in his light music program Music-All-In. (MR)more
