Mete Erker & Jeroen van Vliet

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When painter Mattie Schilders asked me to compose and record music that would underline and match his work, it was obvious that Mete Erker was the man to work with. Mete and I knew each other for years, sharing the same house and working together in several groups.
Mattie wanted to celebrate his 25th anniversary as an artist. He planned a big exhibition of his work at the prestigious documenta-Halle in Kassel, Germany. In one year he made over 100 paintings, to be published in a book that would be presented together with the CD at a concert at the opening of the exhibition in Kassel.
We started to compose music that would express the essence of our musical voices as well as reflect the chemistry that is happening between us when we play. In addition we wanted our music to interact with Mattie’s expressive work.
Since that project, the duo evolved and grew into a free and open way of playing, using both very structured pieces as well as open improvisations, as a means to create a rich and accessable sound.
In 2008 en 2009 we visited Bolivia (pictures of this site are from there); besides collaborating with Sgrada Coca and teaching at the Escuela de Musicas Contemporanes and the Conservatory, we performed at the Festijazz jazzfestival in La Paz.

Mete Erker	tenor- and soprano saxophone
Jeroen van Vliet	piano and Würlitzer-piano

Erno Elsinga, www.draaiomjeoren.com
The clever balance between the two instrumentalists proves the power [of the music] and emphasizes the quality of the compositions.