BIMHUIS, founded in 1974, is a leading international stage for jazz music. Ammodo spoke to director Mijke Loeven. In her view, jazz is a genre-transcending, innovative force within the current music world. 'Jazz is so energetic, intelligent and joyful, everyone just has to check it out,''she said.
BIMHUIS is an institution with a glorious history. How was it when you joined and what is the current focus?
From the beginning, I was very much aware of the fact that BIMHUIS stands for new music and its development. We are responsible for that legacy. Amsterdam's free-impro scene is constantly being reshaped and has caused a stir all over the world. Young people are still influenced by it today, nothing has changed.
But if you love jazz, you also have to ensure that BIMHUIS can continue its work for another 50 years. A major task was therefore to bring in the audiences of today and of the future. To do so, we had to professionalise a bit, for instance in the field of marketing. We also slightly sharpened our artistic vision and reviewed which partners and collaborations fit us well. In that sense, we have moved a little with the times.
How is that artistic vision given form?
What happens on our stage is the core of BIMHUIS: great musicians of international calibre. We also have two outboard rockets, as I call them. One is the production house. To keep in touch with the present, you have to give jazz musicians opportunities to invent new things and be able to make something with no need to compromise. That contributes to their development, to the art itself, and to reaching new audiences. With a composition commission, the production house asks musicians to reflect on today's world. Jazz music does not have a direct narrative in the same way as theatre or literature, you get a more abstract representation, but the audience cannot ignore it: you feel it is topical.
We talk extensively to the musicians about what they make, which also brings a lot of joy within the organisation. If you can give someone the opportunity to make what they love most, you get the most amazing things. For example, trumpeter Alistair Payne invited Tongo Eisen-Martin, an amazing spoken-word artist from Los Angeles. He has a beautiful deep bass voice and speaks in a poetic, machine-like rhythm, at a really incredible level. Payne created music around it and involved, among others, singer Marta Arpini, who set the lyrics in a rarefied, high-pitched voice. I was incredibly impressed. From new work comes a tour and we release it on vinyl within our own label. The great thing is also that the musicians inspire each other. When something new is presented, the whole scene shows up, which is great.
The other outboard rocket is BIMHUIS TV, which we are also proud of. We record several concerts every month with perfect sound, light and picture quality, and these are streamed. We started doing that well before the pandemic, now we have a nice archive and a huge reach: about 80 per cent watch from abroad, and relatively high number of young people. For a young talent such as guitarist Ella Zirina, it is very important; her performance has thousands of views. International artists also like it because they know it is of high quality. In addition, it is a way to encourage diversity, for example by showcasing the work of female musicians.
Is jazz still a man's world?
Yes, although I always add that they are often very nice men. Musicians are special people who can work incredibly well together. Playing with each other in a band is not just something. You open up everything in your body, you have to listen well and react to each other. That fewer women are active is a historical development which I don’t fully understand. Performing arts are simply more complicated for women, especially if they have children. My mother made visual art, which, like being a writer, is easier to combine with parenthood because you can schedule your own time. A musician without a permanent job must also be self-employed. That is a difficult life and I think it is given to very few women to be able to really build a professional practice out of that.
In the Amsterdam free-impro scene, by the way, there has always been a lot of room for women. In other genres such as bebop much less so. In general, art only gets better and more interesting from different perspectives. These also provide diverse views on what quality is and it only gets richer from that. We always put the women we programme on the posters so that others can think: there might be a place for me there too. That's how we slowly try to change the image. As an art form, jazz has every opportunity, there is space and freedom for everyone.
Is there such a thing as a jazz mentality and what do you mean by it?
There is a huge, almost political, radical activism in the foundation of the BIMHUIS. We were founded in 1974. The music made then was made to shake things up. All the rules were abandoned, the metre, the melody, the jazz tradition.... That is still embedded in Dutch jazz.
Having a jazz mentality means being present in the here and now and being open to the energy. First, of course, you have to be very good on your instrument. Jazz musicians can play anything, I admire that a lot. To improvise, you have to reach a state of freedom. The misconception is that it is something like 'playing freely' but only very disciplined people can do that. Next, you have to be able to open up . Looking at what the other person has written and wondering what you can add. We used to play the standards, nowadays it's more about creating, independently or in a collective. It means developing a personality, your own musical profile. Connoisseurs immediately hear: that is such a player, he has a certain sound and intention.
The great thing is that you can be somebody. Jazz musicians are stubborn types, in the good sense of the word. Like in a laboratory, they investigate, for instance, what it takes for their instrument to produce the sound that expresses what they want to say with their music. In classical music, you have a sound ideal, linked to the composers and how they think their music should sound. In jazz, you decide that yourself and so you just have your personal, radical, idiotic and free sound ideal. That is a process that goes on for a lifetime. It makes jazz musicians very creative people.
The pandemic must have made its mark on the jazz world too. What do you still notice?
What else is your craft about if you don't have the energy of the audience? Performing arts by definition exist in relation to the other. You bring something in, the audience receives and gives back, it has to be able to flow. And then there is the arc of tension: the effect of applause at the end is an affirmation that it is a collective event, a conversation you are having with each other. That is essentially the social relevance of performing arts. That was so tragic during the pandemic.
Fortunately, the public has not forgotten us, we are doing terribly well, but you see across the industry that different choices are being made. Audiences are choosing some more familiar things. My idea is that right now (this conversation took place just before Christmas 2022, ed.) there is a need for comfort and people want to experience something together and be happy about it; that is also what art is capable of. That other side, the unknown, the young talent, the radical, the intellectual challenge, the disrupting and being disrupted, is having a harder time at the moment. But that is what the BIMHUIS stands for. That's partly why contributions like Ammodo's are important. With them, we can continue to feed that and ensure that the level of thinking about it is maintained.
I think the public's behaviour is something temporary. There is a lot of turmoil in the world at the moment, there is war, we are suffering from inflation and the energy crisis. I believe that in turbulent times like these, it is even more important for artists to relate to what is happening in the world.
How are you looking at the near future? What are you looking forward to and what are there concerns about?
We will be 50 years old in 2024 so that is cause for big celebration. And we are reviving collaborative plans. After covid, everyone was busy getting and keeping their own institution running. People left and so the fabric has to be completely rebuilt. For instance, we are working on a music festival in collaboration with partners in the neighbourhood, I am looking forward to that. We also have growth ambitions for the production house, our online platform and with regard to audience reach and diversity. We are in some fantastic European collaborations at the intersection of young talent and sustainability. And of course I am looking forward to full theatres. In November, we had our best month ever.
Everything is tilting, which is fascinating but also exciting and quite a responsibility. My concerns relate to the global situation. What are war and crisis doing to people? For the arts, I think inequality of opportunity and the growing income gap between rich and poor is a big concern. After all, how do you keep the arts accessible to everyone? The live experience gives an unprecedented energy, that recharges people. Especially if you have less access to knowledge, power, and income, art is important to shape and nurture you.
Is there anything else you would like to have said?
Jazz is so energetic, intelligent and joyful, everyone just has to check it out. The young generation makes music that is very complex and at the same time very accessible. They use Indian ragas and techniques from modern composed music. The conservatoires are producing amazing talents, they play better than ever, truly an experience. BIMHUIS TV features a concert by the Supersonic Orchestra led by drummer Gard Nilssen, which I will never forget. The same goes for the BIMHUIS composition commission by Martin Fondse, the composer of the fatherland. He has worked with vocalists and with Norwegian saxophonist Trygve Seim. This is such crazy music, very lyrical and surprising. I would so like everyone to start enjoying that joy and brightness. There are so many kinds of jazz. Even if you think: it's nothing for me, it's for you anyway!
Published on 26 January 2023.
Photos: Florian Braakman
