Ernst Reijseger
Cellist Ernst Reijseger became distinguished in avant-garde jazz, contemporary classical, and improvised music as the 1980s and '90s progressed. In 1985, he won the major Dutch jazz award the Boy Edgar Prijs, was the subject of a television documentary nine years later, and received the North Sea Jazz Festival's prestigious Bird Award the year after. Born in Naarden, Netherlands, in 1954, Reijseger began playing the cello at the age of eight. He began performing improvised music in the early '70s, collaborating with musicians including Derek Bailey, Martin van Duynhoven, and Michael Moore. Reijseger went on to become a member of the Theo Loevendie Consort, the Amsterdam String Trio, and the Guus Janssen Septet during the '80s; and the Arcado String Trio in the mid-'90s. Throughout both decades, he was a member of Misha Mengelberg's ICP Orchestra, and performed with Gerry Hemingway in various lineups, which included a trio with Hemingway and pianist Georg Graewe starting in the late '80s. Also around this time, Reijseger, Moore, and drummer Han Bennink -- all members of ICP -- formed the Clusone Trio, named for the Italian festival they first played at as a group. They toured all over the world, including a 1995 tour of Australia, China, and Vietnam. With the release of their fifth album (their second on the Hat label; there were others on Gramavision) in 1999, the group called it quits after their ten-year anniversary. Reijseger also left the ICP Orchestra that same year. He continued touring and recording in a variety of settings, including solo (1998's Colla Parte, on Winter & Winter); avant-garde jazz settings (Randomacoustics' releases of Graewe/Reijseger/Hemingway albums and in the Hemingway Quintet's Waltzes, Two-Steps & Other Matters of the Heart on GM Recordings, to name just a few); and even a collaboration with the Sardinian choir Tenore e Concordu de Orosei (released as Colla Voche on Winter & Winter in 1999). Reijseger has also performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Louis Sclavis, Franky Douglas, Joelle Leandre, Trilok Gurtu, Phil Minton, and more. On occasion, he gives children's cello workshops.
In the 21st century, Reijseger continued his prolific pace. While his fruitful relationship with Winter & Winter continued, he also branched out between 2000 and 2002 with recordings on Unorthodox, BUZZ-Records, and Nimbus West. He returned to Winter & Winter for 2002's widely celebrated I Love You So Much It Hurts, in duet with Italian pianist Franco D'Andrea. With few exceptions -- two collaborative dates for Leo in which he was a featured guest, and 2011's The Skopje Connection Meets Ernst Reijseger for Losen) -- Reijseger recorded for Winter & Winter exclusively over the next 14 years. His 2008 solo cello album Tell Me Everything, is among his most acclaimed. Reijseger also scored Requiem for a Dying Planet, Sounds for Two Films by Werner Herzog - The Wild Blue Yonder - The White Diamond (2006), prompting the famed director to say of him: "He is a magnificent cellist, and he can do anything, anything on his cello. He could play the civil war, the American Civil war on his cello." Reijseger's relationship with Herzog was extensive: he also scored 2005's Rescue Dawn, 2009's My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, 2010's Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and 2016's Salt and Fire (all Winter & Winter). He also worked with director Martijn Maria Smits on Anvers (2009), C’est Déjà L’été (2010), and Under the Weight of Clouds (2012). He cut two albums with the band BARANÁ in 2010: Elektro Shaman and Xenopolis.
The following year saw the release of Klaarlichte Nacht: Musictheatre through the life and work of poet Herman de Coninck in a trio with pianist Wolfert Brederode and actor and accordionist Felix Strategier. Reijseger celebrated his 60th birthday in 2014 with the release of two recordings including Feature, which offered his works performed by a large ensemble that included himself, accordionist Luciano Biondini, vocalists Mola Sylla and Ceylan Ertem, keyboardist Harmen Fraanje, Purves on percussion and four additional cellists. The following year he released the trio offering Count Till Zen, with Sylla and Fraanje. In 2016, he issued his major work, The Volcano Symphony, with Forma Antiqva under the direction of Aaron Zapico, which paved the way for a further collaboration the following year titled Walking Out.
© Joslyn Layne /TiVo
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Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Music for a Film by Werner Herzog)
Ernst Reijseger, Harmen Fraanje, Sean Bergin, Netherlands Chamber Choir
Classical - Released by Spring Music on 15 Jul 2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
We Were There
Ernst Reijseger, Harmen Fraanje, Mola Sylla
World - Released by Just Listen Records on 9 Oct 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Down Deep
Ernst Reijseger, Harmen Fraanje, Mola Sylla
Jazz - Released by Spring Music on 1 Feb 2013
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Requiem for a Dying Planet (Music for Two Films by Werner Herzog: The White Diamond & the Wild Blue Yonder)
Ernst Reijseger, Tenore e Cuncordu de Orosei, Mola Sylla
Soundtracks - Released by Spring Music on 23 Aug 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SCHMID, Beni: Obsession - Hommage a Grappelli
Benjamin Schmid, Edi Kohldorfer, Ernst Reijseger, Biréli Lagrène, Georg Breinschmid
Classical - Released by Oehms Classics on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chronicle (Ernst Reijseger & Werner Herzog Film Scores)
Classical - Released by Spring Music on 21 Mar 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Janna
Ernst Reijseger, Mola Sylla, Serigne C. M. Gueye
World - Released by Spring Music on 12 May 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Count Till Zen
Ernst Reijseger, Harmen Fraanje, Mola Sylla
Jazz - Released by Spring Music on 27 Feb 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
I Love You so Much It Hurts
Ernst Reijseger, Franco D'Andrea
Jazz - Released by Spring Music on 2 Sep 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sonic Fiction
Georg Graewe, Ernst Reijseger, Gerry Hemingway
Free Jazz & Avant-Garde - Released by hatOLOGY on 7 May 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Crystal Palace (Playing Close to Jerry Zeniuk's Paintings)
Classical - Released by Spring Music on 6 Jun 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Different Dreams
Ernst Reijseger, David Mott, Jesse Stewart
Alternative & Indie - Released by Music as Energy on 25 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walking Out (Music for a Film by Alex and Andrew Smith)
Soundtracks - Released by Spring Music on 28 Apr 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Feature (Reijsegers Choice of Tracks)
Classical - Released by Spring Music on 10 Oct 2014
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Kakyoku
European Art Orchestra, Bernd Ruf
Jazz - Released by Winter & Winter on 30 Dec 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Colla Parte (Versioni per Violoncello solo)
Classical - Released by Spring Music on 16 Sep 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Colla Voche
Ernst Reijseger, Tenore de Orosei
Folk - Released by Spring Music on 2 Feb 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Salt and Fire (Music for a Werner Herzog Film)
Ernst Reijseger, Netherlands Wind Ensemble
Soundtracks - Released by Spring Music on 18 Mar 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Graewe / Hemingway / Reijseger: View From Points West (The) (Georg Graewe)
Georg Graewe, Ernst Reijseger, Gerry Hemingway
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 22 Jun 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Volcano Symphony (Music for Baroque Orchestra)
Ernst Reijseger, Forma Antiqva, Aarón Zapico
Classical - Released by Spring Music on 4 Nov 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Autumn Music
Simon Nabatov, Ernst Reijseger, Michael Vatcher
Jazz - Released by LEO RECORDS on 1 Feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo