After a career of almost 50 years, Misha Mengelberg still is the same 'enfant terrible' that regularly acts against the grain. This, according to how he refers to himself, 'rotten piano player', feels he has an obligation to sound different everyday and he finds the search of his colleagues, who look for their own style and sound, obsessive and useless. If Mengelberg indeed is the rotten piano player he claims to be, then he made a virtue of necessity. Where a lot of jazz know-it-alls think highly of themselves, Mengelberg's playing is oozing with ironic, near sarcastic self-mockery. Mengelberg's American trio albums show a sparkling improviser, who never reverts to worn-out bop licks. On the CD Senne Sing Song, bassist Greg Cohen and drummer Ben Perowsky prove to be thé perfect sidekicks for the witty playing of the master. As for that, Cohen (known for his work with Tom Waits) and Perowsky (driving force behind Joan As Police Woman) are up for everything.
