Daan Herweg – In Search Of The Lost Chord
A ten-year gap separates pianist and producer Daan Herweg’s first album, “Lucid Musings,” from his recently released sophomore effort, “In Search Of The Lost Chord.” This is a significant period and was also not what was expected. Herweg had planned to compose and release jazz music regularly. But you can make all the plans in the world, and then life suddenly takes a different turn. Herweg’s parents became seriously ill and passed away in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The valuable lesson he learned from this is that a musician’s life is more than just a career. Add to that the pandemic and a two-year house renovation, and you’re a decade further down the road.
“In Search Of The Lost Chord” is first and foremost a dedication to his parents. This is translated on the album into the beautiful and playful “Onderweg Naar Bloemfontein,” inspired by a road trip Herweg once took with his late father in South Africa. Despite the emotional weight, it is not a heavy track at all. And that goes for the whole album. Most of the ten tracks are quite uptempo. Herweg is a trained and acclaimed jazz pianist, but he plays fresh and sometimes almost poppy. This is not so strange, as Herweg has worked with artists such as Caro Emerald and Pete Philly in the past. However, this does nothing to detract from the beauty of his compositions. There is one cover on the album: “Tonight” by Leonard Bernstein, one of his late mother’s favourite songs.
Absolute infatuation can be heard in the samba “Ingvald,” a tribute to his great love Alf with whom he made a beautiful trip to Brazil. Herweg is subtly and groovily accompanied in this track by his rhythm section drummer Jeroen Batterink and double bassist Lorenzo Buffa. In the title track “In Search Of The Lost Chord,” the ethereal vocals of Henk Kraaijeveld can be heard. The beat in this track has the characteristics of a hip-hop number, which also gives it a danceable feel. The opening track “Cloud Cathedrals” and the closing track “Symphony Of Loose Ends” feature excellent contributions from trumpeter Suzan Veneman and the humble Belgian saxophonist Matthias van den Brande. The latter also plays on several other compositions on this very successful album. Now let’s just hope that various venues will include Daan Herweg and his group in their programming because in the end there is nothing more beautiful than hearing this music live! (8/10)(Key Element Records)
