Dutch pianist
Wolfert Brederode, on his second formal quartet outing (following 2007's
Currents), leads his compatriots, clarinetist
Claudio Puntin, bassist
Mats Eilertsen, and drummer
Samuel Rohrer, in a selection of thoughtful, classically influenced jazz on Post Scriptum. The instrumentation may suggest
the Dave Brubeck Quartet with
Paul Desmond, but if
Brubeck represented a brand of "college jazz" in the 1950s and ‘60s, this is strictly graduate school stuff.
Brederode and company are on the right label with producer
Manfred Eicher's
ECM, since they are playing very much in the
ECM school of cool European jazz. That's apparent immediately on the appropriately named opener, "Meander," which finds
Puntin making like a more laid-back yet freer
Desmond in a
Brederode composition that will suggest new age to many listeners. Those tendencies continue throughout the disc, although the playing tends to be a little too complex and unpredictable for the new age tag to adhere firmly. The tempos are mostly slow, sometimes extremely so, but "Inner Dance," as its title indicates, has a real rhythm provided by
Eilertsen and
Rohrer, who otherwise imply beats rather than actually playing them. This is music for the more adventurous jazz listener who is willing to consider improvisatory playing that brings in ambient and contemporary classical aspects. ~ William Ruhlmann