Special Delivery

Special Delivery has been in the limelight since 1994. The Group have produced five CDs (First Year, Bento, Special Delivery, Song,and Crossings)and have received much critical acclaim from the national press (NRC, AD, Volkskrant). Special Delivery’s repertoire consists of entirely their own work, written by bass player Henk de Ligt and pianist Ed Baatsen. Their fourth CD “Song” came out in 2004. The compositions are all Henk’s work and were inspired by the American poet Walt Whitman’s poem “Leaves of Grass”. Their latest CD “Crossings” came out for Morvin Records (www.morvinrecords.nl ) in September 2008, again all songs were written by Ed Baatsen and Henk de Ligt.
Special Delivery is a quartet that is constantly developing and exploring new ideas. The acoustic sound of the group is, however always recognisable, extremely dynamic and always searching for equilibrium. Among other characteristics of the group’s compositions is the use of the twelve tone/note technique.
Special Delivery has been playing with an unchanged line-up for 15 years. Four driven, like minded musicians who respect each other on stage. This combination leads to a lot of interaction and great playing. Sometimes they seem to go off at different tangents and then suddenly and unexpectedly come back together again. Apparent chaos ending in a structured collective.
Erik van de Berg wrote about this in de Volkskrant: “No dashing solos to an obliging rhythm, but an elegant interwoven role-play of rhythm and melody.” A Special Delivery concert is always an experience and a guarantee of an adventurous musical trip with surprising turns, exciting improvisation and original compositions.
The press about Special Delivery:
“The kings of the delayed climax”. – Edo Dijsterhuis, NRC
“Unique phenomenon in the Dutch Jazz World”. – Ruud Meijer, AD
“Too good to ignore”. – Erik van de Berg, Volkskrant
“Composers that can put such high tension down on paper are very rare indeed”. – Ruud Meijer, AD.
“Very high level for Dutch standards”- Rinus van der Heijden, Jazzenzo jazzmagazine
Special Delivery are:
Nils van Haften – tenor,soprano & alto saxophone and bass clarinet
Ed Baatsen – piano
Henk de Ligt – double bass
Wim Kegel – drums