A breathtakingly talented guitarist
Reinier Baas has performed in a solo setting since 2011. His repertoire consists mostly of unusual arrangements of old songs, but also includes classical repertoire, free improvisation, prepared guitar and an occasional sample. He finds playing solo “terrifying but necessary sometimes, like using a public bathroom at a subway station”.
Baas’ music is characterised by “unpredictability with a reassuring sense of overall form”. A description of The New York City Jazz Record reads: “The music was assembled in unusual ways.
Arcane harmonies suggest Bartók or Stravinsky, but then structures would fracture and hip-hop rhythms would suddenly hit hard and then everything would become wild flurries and improvised cacophonies before the music returned to solemn, orderly, if angular forms.”
“A breathtakingly talented guitarist, who is able to impress and touch with his instrument, and a gifted composer who dares to take risk on top of this.”
— Jazzism
