Fred Van Hove Piano and Lou Grassi Drums
Fred Van Hove, legendary Belgian jazz musician and a pioneer of European free jazz. He is a pianist, accordionist, church organist, and carillonist, an improviser and a composer
2 sets 8 and 9:30
Fred Van Hove has collaborated with poets and painters (the action painter W.J.C. Free) and held seminars and workshops on improvisation in Antwerp, Tilberg, Ghent, Amsterdam, in England and Germany and, since 1990, at Departement d’Etudes Musicales, University Lille 3, France. In June 1996 the Belgium government conferred on Fred Van Hove the title of Cultural Ambassador of Flanders 1996, an award that included a grant for touring outside of Belgium.
Born 1937 in Antwerp, Belgium; piano, accordion, church organ, composer. Fred Van Hove studied piano, theory and harmony at the Music Academy in Belgium and experimented with several jazz styles and dance music before making the transition to free improvisation with local musicians (Zinzen, Van De Ven and Wanders). He has been a professional free-lance musician since 1964.
1966 saw the beginning of Van Hove’s collaboration with Peter Brštzmann, initially in quartet or larger groupings (eg Machine Gun), then stabilizing in a trio format (with Han Bennink) for five to six years; in 1995 contact with Brštzmann was renewed when the two played a duo as part of the ‘Pool’ at the Free Music XXII in Antwerp in August. His first solo concerts were played at the Avant-garde festival Gravensteen, Ghent, in 1970 and Jazz Middleheim, in Antwerp in 1971. In 1972, working as a duo with Belgian sax player Cel Overberghe, he refused to play at the Middelheim festival as a result of a dispute over the grossly differential fees being paid to visiting American musicians on the one hand and European musicians on the other. This dispute led to the foundation of the musicians collective WIM vzw, Werkgroep Improviserende Musici, whose aim was to improve the situation of free music in Belgium. Fred Van Hove has been Chairman of WIM since then.
In the mid-80s, Fred Van Hove undertook several tours of Japan playing solo and duos with a wide variety of musicians including percussionist Sabu Toyozumi, bass player Tetsu Saitoh; and US and European musicians such as: Ned Rothenberg; Douglas Ewart; Peter Kowald; Hans Reichel; Evan Parker; and Barry Guy. A three-day Van Hove festival was held at the concert hall Space Who, Saitama, celebrating its 5th anniversary.
Lou Grassi is internationally known for his work in both the traditional and the avant-garde jazz worlds. Born in 1947 in Summit, NJ, Lou began drumming at age 15. For 50 years he has spanned the jazz spectrum from Ragtime (including several US tours with the pianist Max Morath from 1985-87) to Free Improvisation (with the Lou Grassi PoBand), as well as working for several decades in musical theater and composing for and accompanying modern dance groups. Lou draws on the wealth of this experience to fuel his creative fires.
During his military service, Lou attended the Navy School of Music, Norfolk, VA, and served in the 328th US Army Band until his discharge in 1968. While he was in the Army Band, Lou began to experiment with free improvisation. In the early 1970s, he was able to develop this aspect of his music fully while working in several mixed-media projects, including the Innermost Society, a blending of music, dance, poetry, and visual arts. His bandmates in this ensemble were Sheila Jordan and Jimmy Garrison.
Lou earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Jersey City State College where he studied percussion with Nick Cerrato. He has also studied drums with Tony Inzalaco, Sam Ulano, and Beaver Harris, who became his mentor. In 1974, Lou was awarded a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship for his studies with Harris. Lou also studied arranging and musicianship with Marshall Brown.
Since the release of his CD PoGressions in 1996 Lou’s star has been on the rise. He has subsequently appeared on more than 60 new recordings. His nine CDs as a leader, including six by the PoBand, have established him as one of the most versatile, original, and creative drummers working in this idiom.
