Han Bennink
Drums
Drummer and multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink was born in 1942 in Zaandam. His first percussion instrument was a kitchen chair. Later his father, an orchestral percussionist, provided him with more conventional equipment, but Han always kept his love for making sounds using objects he found backstage. He still enjoys playing on chairs to this day.
In the sixties, Bennink grew into a versatile drummer in The Netherlands, working in the tradition of his hero Kenny Clarke. He has accompanied American jazz stars such as Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin, Eric Dolphy, and Dexter Gordon, and features on "Live at Amsterdam Paradiso" (1969, with Gordon) and "Last Date" (1964, with Dolphy).
At the same time, he helped shape a European improvised music, independent of its jazz roots. Together with fellow pioneers pianist Misha Mengelberg and saxophonist Willem Breuker, he founded the Instant Composers Pool collective in 1967, and played a central role in their bands and music-theatre productions.
From 1988 to 1998, Clusone 3 – with clarinettist Michael Moore and cellist Ernst Reijseger – was his main project. He plays in Tobias Delius’ quartet and in a trio with Cor Fuhler and Wilbert de Joode, and he worked with greats such as Johnny Griffin and Ray Anderson.
