ZENG!From punk to free jazz there seems to be a superficial gap that can easily be replaced by an evolving cohesion of audio events. Zeng! is the collaboration album of Han Bennink and Terrie Ex and all their musical background with experimentation as one of the most obvious points of reference. Looking at each one of the artists separately, one can reach a better comprehension of the sound result. Han Bennink is better known as a Dutch jazz drummer starting his carrier in the early 60’s working close to big names of the jazz scene while still being in an early age. Later on in his carrier he has been the co-founder of a non-profit organisation put together to promote the Dutch jazz avant-garde. His drumming skills vary and harmonically shift amongst the wide range of jazz styles from one to another turning the act of music into a personal and artistic statement. Taking this as a characteristic fact about Benning’s musical identity, it is presented in all his collaborations with diverse artists, including the one with Terrie Ex. Mr. Ex, is a the guitarist of The Ex, a Dutch punk band formed in 1979. The Ex, beginning from a genuinely punk musical and anti-commercial point of view and attitude have enlarged their gamut of musical styles through experimentation and various collaborations. The Ex’s relationship with sound has gone through divergent stages throughout their artistic practice and engaged with alternations of soundscapes.
Zeng! has an indubitable maturity succeeded by the balancing of the two artists’ musical orientations to the point where they can meet in an open sound platform in which experimentation and improvisation maintain the interchange-ability of the audio experience that swings from abstraction to jazz purity. Certainly not an easy-listening piece of music, demanding observation, full-capacitated ears and open minded listening.
The main influence of this album is the local every-day life in de Zaanstreek, the first industrial area in Holland where both Benning and Ex come from. All the track titles are descriptive of some situation or local slang. Slang words such as “Spikkel” (to feel like doing something with lots of pleasure), or “Radder” (having the shits, which, when you have it, requires a special concentration to the act as if nothing is wrong), reveal a special humoristic approach and personal interpretations of the present reality. Taking this under consideration, one can tell that it is extended in the music too seen in the “lots-of-fun” element that comes through while listening. A playful and adventurous album. Sliding from nonsense to sense with spontaneity as the vehicle set on the tracks of instrumental skills, Zeng! is a purely experimental work equally sharing Benning’s virtuoso skills and Ex’s guitar intelligence.
:: Han Bennink & Terrie Ex/Zeng! - terprecords.nl/A-Musik.
