Description
2025 is a landmark year for Dutch saxophonist Jasper Blom - on a personal level, it marks his 60th circuit around the sun: on a professional level, it marks his 40th year in a career that has propelled him to the very front rank of international jazz talent as a saxophonist, composer and bandleader, and it also marks the 20th birthday of his acclaimed ensemble project, the Jasper Blom Quartet. So what more fitting tribute could there be than for Jasper to be joined by his JBQ colleagues Frans Van Der Hoeven, Jesse Van Ruller and Martijn Vink to perform new versions of some of his most celebrated compositions, in collaboration with internationally renowned Metropole Orkest? The album Metropolarity is the result: a stunning blend of the quartet's tight, intuitive improvisations, Jasper's innovative compositions, and the majestic sweep and breadth of the 50-piece ensemble. Metropole Orkest's forward looking vision has made it the premier non-classical orchestra in the world and its list of collaborators is legendary, from Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie to Jacob Collier and Louis Cole. Its signature blend of daring orchestration and melodic accessibility makes it a perfect fit for Jasper Blom's equally progressive but engaging style of composition, and the individual virtuosity of the quartet's players shines out all the brighter against the Orkest's verdant background.
This unique project is a fitting tribute to Jasper Blom's long and celebrated career at the front rank of European jazz performers and composers, his leadership of one of the most long-lived units in the music, and the boundless creativity and innovation of the Metropol Orkest.
"JBQ is my long-term project and Metropol Orkest is a cultural institution so it was very special for me to be able to combine them, and extend the quartet in this amazing way. They allowed so much artistic freedom to embed the quartet at the heart of the Orkest and extend the music that we make together in this way."
Jasper Blom: tenor saxophone, effects
Frans van der Hoeven: double bass
Martijn Vink: drums
Jesse van Ruller: guitar
Metropole Orkest
