Jasper Somsen Invites Anton Goudsmit – Live!

Anton Goudsmit - Guitar
Jasper Somsen - Double Bass

'Jasper Somsen invites ...' is a jazz concert series in which double bassist, composer and producer Jasper Somsen invites the best Dutch jazz musicians live on stage at Loburg, Wageningen as part of the international concert series by Jazz in Wageningen, Somsen's hometown.

The album offers an immersive listening experience that emphasizes this synergy between both musicians. The collaboration between Somsen and Goudsmit goes back to the 1990s, when they collaborated with trumpeter Eric Vloeimans, among others. When the Jasper Somsen Invites series started in March 2014, Goudsmit was one of the first musicians to take the stage with saxophonist Efraïm Trujillo. Nobody could have imagined that exactly 10 years later, the two musicians would record a live duo album at the same venue. Jasper Somsen is a versatile double bass player and composer who has worked with international jazz greats such as Peter Erskine, Enrico Pieranunzi and Joey Calderazzo. In addition to his performances, he is a renowned studio producer. Anton Goudsmit is known for his characteristic and idiosyncratic guitar playing. He made a splash with bands such as The Ploctones and New Cool Collective and won both the Boy Edgar Prize and Het Duiveltje, the prize for best Dutch pop guitarist.

Release: February 7, 2025 (Challenge Records)

Concerts

A varied excursion through the art of the guitar-bass duo, independent and yet in the tradition of Jim Hall - Charlie Haden, Joe Pass - N.H.Ø.P. or Ralph Towner- Gary Peacock ... pleasantly sensitive, sometimes hymnic intensity, especially in the Goudsmit originals "Ernesto" and "Desberato".
Jazzthing, GER

We’ve known these two musicians for a long time, through a whole series of projects. Yet this live performance sheds new light on both of them. Together, they explore and push a myriad of artistic boundaries. They play and, above all, they listen – audibly! In short… an exceptional duo. 

Couleurs Jazz, FR ... Read more >>

The result is spectacular. With a firm diction, great expressiveness and excitement. This requires not only great musicality but also great empathy and they also have to keep an eye on their musical spontaneity and improvisation. Somsen andGoudsmit have all this competence and it sounds so easily.
Musicframes, NL ... Read more >>It's a sheer joy to listen to this album. Goudsmit's ever enthousiastic performance leaves enough space for Somsen's role, who's equally strong to claim his part in the duo's interaction. Goudsmit sounds so eager that one might think that he's running out of strings and hands to express his musical ideas.
Muziekweb, NL ... Read more >>

Somsen steers a stately beat and this poise and pacing he does so well become a main zone of interest of this live album. Goudsmit’s instrumentalism is really superb in its own right given how much he seizes his own songs by the scruff of the neck, pun intended.
Marlbank, UK ... Read more >>

‘Jasper Somsen Invites Anton Goudsmit’ is an exposé of Goudsmit’s abilities. Versatile, driven, a unique sound and approach to musical pieces adorn his extraordinary talent and unique personality.
Jazzenzo, NL ... Read more >>

Liner notes by Co de Kloet

It’s a gift that has been handed to Jasper: the ability to choose a musical partner for a unique project where the sum of the parts far exceeds the normal mathematical result. The result is the epitome of synergy. The fact that Anton is a brilliant all-rounder, however, does not guarantee the success of a duo project. But Jasper was keenly aware of the fact that the combination could yield something wonderful, something really entrancing. And I draw on the honour of writing these notes to warn the unsuspecting listener that these great live recordings are addictive. Not merely because of their lovely tones, thrilling turns, subtle waywardness and the restrained calm that pervades them. No, for me, it is first and foremost the overall vibe that makes this release so special. You’re literally transported to a sound world that breathes, where a liberating space prevails. Your sense of time wavers and you feel connected to the language of the players. Listening to them places you fully in the Now.

We have known both musicians for a long time through a whole gamut of projects. Yet this live performance sheds new light on them both. Together they explore and push myriad artistic boundaries. They play and, most importantly, they listen - audibly! Have I ever heard a more intense version of Reinhardt’s Nuages? And how does their rendering of Strange Meeting contrive to make me listen to the great Bill Frisell with new ears? Their performance of Desberato, a Goudsmit composition, without doubt qualifies as an absolute highlight of subtlety and musicality. Listening to all the pieces yet again arouses a clear image in my mind: I’m sitting in my garden, daydreaming in the sun. A butterfly lands on my arm and I can marvel at it from close by. But I don’t want to touch it with my other hand or harm it or scare it away. The music does something similar to me: I can be very close to it, but it has its own beauty, strength, and fragility. So many words just to say how wonderful I find it all.

(c) 2024 - Carlos Villarroel (New Arts International)