Guitarist Jesse van Ruller didn't make it easy on himself recording his latest CD In Pursuit. The combination of guitar and piano is a tricky one, but clearly no obstacle for this musician. Van Ruller and VPRO/Boy Edgar Prize winner Bert van den Brink find each other in beautiful renditions of standards and also their own compositions. Beautifully circling the themes, both the guitarist and the pianist know how to combine intuition and technique on all sorts of strings. In doing so, they share a great feeling for improvisation. In 1995 Jesse van Ruller was to be the first European to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington. He recorded albums with several American jazz musicians and during the past year he worked with cellist Ernst Reijseger and flamenco guitarist Eric Vaarzon Morel. Furthermore he's the regular guitarist of the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. He also plays duo with guitarist Maarten van der Grinten.
