ICP ORCHESTRA / ICP SEPTET
Genres: Avant-Garde Jazz, Progressive Big Band, 21st Century Modern • Netherlands

The ICP, or "Instant Composers Pool", Orchestra recorded relatively little, but achieved international acclaim for its sophisticated improvisations, ingenious interpretations of landmark composers such as Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk and for the band members' extraordinary level of musicianship. The Amsterdam-based group is a blend of European improvised music, jazz and the Dutch irreverent attitude, in general, which all combine into a highly sophisticated yet enjoyable music that has astonished and impressed music lovers for several decades. ICP was founded as a label and group concept in the late '60s when reedist Willem Breuker and drummer Han Bennink self-released a duo recording on a label they named icp. Fellow Dutch musician and collaborator, pianist Misha Mengelberg became the third equal member of ICP, having recently come up with the term "instant composing" to use in "improvising's" stead. The name ICP quickly became an umbrella for a wide variety of line-ups read more...