This is clearly a working band and it shows

Martijn van Iterson Quartet, Friday 10 november 2006, Jazz at the Crow, café Kraaij & Balder, Eindhoven

door Dick Onstenk

Friday I went to the Crow to attend Martijn's concert in which he presented his new cd 'Streetwise' (Munich Records) and the quartet played most of the tunes on it. I am not much of a reviewer - I won't even try to get in that jargon - but the concert was abso-lutely fantastic.

A few of the tunes on the new cd are probably slightly more accessible than on the pre-vious cd but that's just a superficial layer, for underneath the arrangements are challen-ging, the improvising is always profound and the jazz remains demanding.

This is top jazz. Karel Boehlee on piano is just amazing. The musicianship is among the best my country has to offer. It's all originals with one exception, a beautifully reharmo-nized 'Body and Soul.'

It's humbling to see such and hear these - sometimes really intricate - songs being played flawlessly and with such power and conviction. This is clearly a working band and it shows. A world class concert and a world class contemporary jazz cd on a par with van Ruller's and Peter Bernstein's best work.