Bruford - Borstlap - Game Of Chess (Bruford - Borstlap - In Concert In Holland, 2002)

Bill Bruford: Drums Michiel Borstlap: Keys #billbruford #michielborstlap #brufordborstlap Keyboardist Michiel Borstlap and I were brought together by an imaginative Dutch TV / music producer for a 2002 festival in Nijmegen, NL. This was the first piece we improvised on our first gig which was also a national TV appearance. Michiel and I had only a brief meeting at Heathrow airport to make whatever connections we could. A single play together in a rehearsal room didn’t fill either of us with too much confidence. I’d never heard him play before – I suspect neither had he heard me. These conditions carry risk, but equally may bring forth rich fruits. Somehow the occasion really worked and we began a productive music relationship over six years or so. This opener ‘Game of Chess’ is a bit drum heavy, and it takes its time to locate some common ground. But the spacious and dreamy piano melody at around 9’15” let me know for sure I wanted to make more music with Michiel. Neither quite rock, nor quite jazz, we both believed in a music with immediacy, with authorship, and without boundaries or safety nets. These instant compositions resonate with happy coincidence, human accident, unforced error, missed chances, astonishing good luck, hidden intentions, oblique references and the full catalogue of happenstance that is mirrored in all human existence, if you’re willing to let it. Just the messy kind of place I’m getting more comfortable in. The physical DVD of this show - ‘In Concert in Holland’ - is available here as part of the ‘Sheer Reckless Abandon’ mini-box set collecting all three official releases by our duo.