Live recording of the first set of a gig by outstanding Dutch pianist, Michiel Braam, in the Opus Jazz Club, Budapest

Dutch pianist Michiel Braam combines exceptional virtuosity with a playful unpredictability. His infectious dynamic and percussive style is strictly his own. His unexpected, sometimes comic meanderings are never abstract or obtuse, but always rooted in the material. Braam takes you on a wild and surprising journey, but makes sure that you don't get lost. As of 2016 Michiel plays the solo program 'Gloomy Sunday', including improvisation, Purcell, an occasional Antillean waltz, jazz standards such as 'The Man I Love' and Braam originals like 'Q16' and 'Pit Stop Ball Ad'.
'For me, doing a solo concert doesn't involve any preparation in terms of a set-list or anything concrete about pieces I will be playing. I simply start and see where everything leads me to. At this concert, I made an exception to this custom. Not only would it be nice to play one of the many famous Hungarian compositions in Budapest, but also the very night of the concert, students of the ArtEZ University of the Arts, where I am head of Jazz & Pop, organized a concert in remembrance of our student Robin Cornelissen who had died exactly two years earlier. I had played Gloomy Sunday at his funeral and playing it in the Opus Jazz Club connected me to Robin, as well as to the great Hungarian music tradition.' Michiel Braam

Track Listing

• Opus Espresso
• Q1
• The Man I Love
• Pit Stop Ball Ad
• Eliza
• Opus Walk
• Gloomy Sunday
• Opus Search
• Memories of You
• Cuba, North Rhine Westphalia

Additional Details

Label: BMC Records

Genre: Jazz

Language: English

Run Time: 43 mins

Release Date: 09/09/16

UPC: 5998309302374