There is a long tradition in jazz of piano trios inviting guest soloists, Oscar Peterson’s trio with Clark Terry or Stan Getz and Bill Evans with Monica Zetterlund come to mind. More recently, Brad Mehldau’s trio with Joshua Redman, or Tord Gustavsen’s work with singers, show how fertile this format can be. Yet in many of these collaborations, the shape often remained the same: a trio providing the foundation for a featured voice.

The first time Hermine Deurloo heard the trio of pianist Erik Verwey, bassist Hendrik Müller, and drummer Daniël van Dalen, she immediately felt a deep musical connection. She recognized in them fellow musical storytellers, unbound by genre, moving freely between jazz, soul, and classical music. The collaboration that followed is truly a match made in heaven. Deurloo’s personal and interpretive melodic style perfectly complements Verwey’s lyrical compositions, and the close-knit trio welcomes her fully into their musical universe. This is no longer a trio with a guest, but four musicians of like minds in constant conversation, each contributing and responding to the roles the music calls for. From the very first notes, the music sounds less like accompaniment and more like a genuine four-way conversation, a fully integrated quartet where every voice shapes the story.

The result is a genuinely unique musical experience. Together, the trio and Deurloo perform music from their project About a Home, a musical narrative about belonging, leaving and the emotions that accompany both. The strong melodic arrangements of these remarkable compositions unfold vividly, like a cinematic story, full of lyrical improvisation, spaciousness and dynamic contrasts.

Live Encounters was captured in superb sound quality by Sound Liaison’s engineer Frans de Rond, recorded live in front of an attentive and participating studio audience as part of Sound Liaison’s Live in Studio 2 series. Listen as the otherwise mostly quiet audience can no longer contain themselves at the end of Daniël van Dalen’s remarkable drum feature ‘Catch Up’, as it flows seamlessly into ‘Keep on Chasing’.

Hermine Deurloo, Chromatic Harmonica
Erik Verwey, Piano
Hendrik Müller, Double Bass
Daniël van Dalen, Drums