- Gijs Levelt – trumpet
- Tobias Klein – alto saxophone,clarinets
- Jasper Stadhouders – guitar
- Goncalo Almeida – bass
- Philipp Moser – drums
Spinifex Quintet, photo by Bokkie Vink
Spinifex Quintet is the working band from the Spinifex stable. A flexible instrumentation in which extremely tight irregular structures are contrasted with extensive free improvisations. The line-up features an explosive combination of musicians, all of whom have individually made name in Europe and abroad.
On 5 october 2012, Spinifex Quintet played a showcase at the Dutch Jazz & World Meeting, at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam. John Kelman wrote in allaboutjazz.com:
“Spinifex Quintet had rock attitude in power and sheer visceral energy. With soloing of utter abandon, Spinefex was still driven by idiosyncratic and complex compositional constructs, where challenging unison lines and stop/start rhythms were juxtaposed with passages of more complete freedom. Adventurous yet still with potent (albeit knotty) grooves to latch onto, Spinifex Quintet has yet to release a record, but if its Bimhuis performance was an indication, that’s a crime that should be fixed…and soon.”
That is indeed a crime that we intend to fix … soon!
Tim Sprangers wrote in de Dutch daily De Volkskrant about the Spinifex Quintet performance at the ZomerJazzFietstour Festival, Groningen:
“The math-metal synergy sparkles with tight transitions which are compellingly interwoven with wild soloing.”
The Spinifex Quintet line-up features an explosive combination of musicians, all of whom have individually made name in Europe and abroad.
Philip Moser is the drummer of the famed Dutch math-metal band Cilice. Jasper Stadhouders is one of the most prominent Dutch improvising musicians and has played with numerous top improvisors from all over the world. Portuguese-born Gonçalo Almeida plays bass in the bands Tetterapadequ (cd on Clean Feed) en Heinz Karlhausen & The Diatonics.
Trumpet player Gijs Levelt and saxophonist/bass clarinetist Tobias Klein are the driving forces behind Spinifex, which is becoming a trademark for wonderfully adventurous music.
