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Misha Mengelberg




He was born in Kiev in Ukraine , the son of the conductor Karel Mengelberg , who was himself the nephew of the conductor Willem Mengelberg . He briefly studied Architecture before entering the Royal Conservatory in The Hague where he studied music from 1958 to 1964. While there he won first prize at a jazz festival in Loosdrecht and became associated with Fluxus . His early influences included Thelonious Monk and John Cage , who he heard lecture at Darmstadt .

His first appearance on record was on Eric Dolphy 's last album, ''Last Date'' (1964). Also on that record was the drummer Han Bennink , and the two of them, together with Piet Noordijk formed a quartet which had a number of different bassists, and which played at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966. In 1967 he co-founded the Instant Composers Pool , an organisation which promoted avant garde Dutch jazz performances and recordings, with Bennink and Willem Breuker .

Mengelberg has played with a large variety of musicians. He has often performed in a duo with fellow Dutchman Bennink, with other collaborators including Derek Bailey , Peter Brötzmann , Evan Parker and (on the flip side of a live recording with Dolphy) his pet Parrot . He has also written music for others to perform (generally leaving some room for improvisation) and has overseen a number of music Theatre productions, which usually include a large element of Absurdist humour.


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