The Brubeck Living Legacy Prize is Awarded to Dutch Saxophonist Kasper Rietkerk

July 19, 2024 Martin Hummel

Kasper Rietkerk (Photographer Anne Sophie Leurink)

Brubeck Living Legacy, Inc, in partnership with Ubuntu Music, and the Royal Academy of Music, is delighted to announce the selection of The Brubeck Living Legacy Prize winner, which is awarded to the most deserving jazz student of the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, each year, for an initial three-year period. Kasper’s album will be released on the Ubuntu Music record label next year.

In 2019, the Dave Brubeck family founded Brubeck Living Legacy with the goal of promoting awareness, interest and the understanding of jazz and its role in American and international culture. Brubeck Living Legacy supports educational opportunities and live concerts that recognize the contributions of Dave and Iola Brubeck, and others, to modern American music, the civil rights movement and to the community of musicians worldwide.

The Brubeck Living Legacy Prize will be awarded each year to a young musician who demonstrates excellence in both performance and composition, selected from the jazz musician student body at the Royal Academy of Music in their final two years of study, as well as those in the first year following graduation. The prize includes funding and support for the release of the individual’s proposed recording on the Ubuntu Music record label. Eligible musicians submitted applications for consideration, which were then reviewed by a panel of industry-related judges. For the first year, the judges were composer, arranger, pianist and President of Brubeck Living Legacy Darius Brubeck, Royal Academy of Music Professor & Head of Jazz Programmes Nick Smart, jazz vocalist, recording artist and co-founder of ECN Music Claire Martin (OBE), and founder/director of Ubuntu Music, Martin Hummel.

Darius Brubeck shares his view concerning this special award: “As president of Brubeck Living Legacy, I can say that we are committed to supporting this imaginative initiative by Ubuntu Music and the Royal Academy of Music. Brubeck Living Legacy is already involved in high-level education creatively and financially in America and this is our first partnership based in a foreign country. As a long-time UK resident, I am excited to see this taking shape before my eyes and will do my part in making it a success.”

Kasper Rietkerk is the recipient of the first awarded prize. He is an award-winning saxophonist, renowned for his collaborations with esteemed artists such as Eddie Chacon, John Caroll Kirby and Jean Toussaint, and has also been a member of the Emma Rawicz Jazz Orchestra. His diverse career includes appearances on various TV and radio programmes, as well as contributing to the music composition for VPRO’s television series ‘Naar Bed’.

“Fantastic saxophonist”

--Jean Toussaint

Kasper Rietkerk (Photographer Ezo Sarici)

Kasper began playing saxophone at a young age and was inspired by the sounds of saxophonists like Cannonball Adderley, Kenny Garrett, and Paul Desmond. After completing his bachelor’s degree, Kasper moved to London and graduated from his master’s at the Royal Academy of Music in 2023, where he received an award for his final exam performance.

“Rietkerk’s alto work is first-rate, melodic and capable of delicacy as well as power.”

--All About Jazz (2024) ★★★★

Kasper’s plans for his upcoming project on Ubuntu Music include a multi-generational ensemble consisting of legendary guitarist John Parricelli, London veteran bassist Tom Herbert and fellow Royal Academy grad, drummer Jonah Evans. Kasper seeks “openness” in the recording session, with a less arranged structure, while capturing somewhat of an ECM sound or feeling. The album will be recorded this year and is tentatively scheduled for release in June 2025.

Kasper Rietkerk (Photographer Yaap Kroon)

Nick Smart comments: “We were inspired and encouraged in equal measure at the outstanding quality of every single applicant for the inaugural year of this wonderful new initiative. If the quality of the music being made (and the deep thought and care going into their art) is anything to go by, then the future of this music we love so much is in the very brightest and most talented hands. Any one of them would have been a worthy winner but of course you have to pick one recipient which is never easy. Kasper’s musical breadth, his maturity, the writing and improvising, as well as his clarity of vision, stood out in every aspect of his presentation and we are thrilled to have such a wonderful first beneficiary of this fantastic new opportunity. The Academy is deeply proud to be involved and we’re excited for the coming years too.”

Claire Martin shares her perspective: “It was an honour to be part of the panel that selected Kasper Rietkerk as the winner of the first ever Brubeck Living Legacy Prize. We were all so impressed with all the standards of each applicant's submission, so it wasn't an easy task to pick a winner. However, Kasper’s application stood out for many reasons, and for me his sophisticated writing, his idea and vision for his next release and his sheer drive and enthusiasm made him the obvious musician for this prize and a very worthy winner. Congratulations Kasper!”

Darius Brubeck continues: “On behalf of Brubeck Living Legacy, I would like to congratulate Kasper Rietkerk on his being the winner of the BLL Prize. A new award establishes a benchmark going forward; one that distinguishes the recipient and represents the values of BLL and its partners, Royal Academy of Music and Ubuntu Music. We are very excited to have such a deserving candidate the first time around.”

Martin Hummel concludes: “Ubuntu Music is dedicated to the identification and development of outstanding young jazz talent, which is an integral part of the label’s DNA. The opportunity to partner with Brubeck Living Legacy and the distinguished panellists to select a most deserving beneficiary of the first award was somewhat daunting, given the quality of the submissions. However, in the end, Kasper Rietkerk stood out as the most deserving. His compositional strength, combined with his approach to shaping the project concept and delivering the music itself, were exceptional and demonstrated a maturity at such an early stage in his career. We very much look forward to working with Kasper as we begin to prepare for the release of his next project.”

Left to right: Brubeck Living Legacy Prize panellists Martin Hummel, Nick Smart, Claire Martin and Darius Brubeck.

For further information, please contact:

Emma Perry (UK Publicity): emma@ecnmusic.com

Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music: martin@ubuntumanagementgroup.com

WEBSITES:

Kasper Rietkerk: https://kasperrietkerk.nl/

Brubeck Living Legacy: https://www.brubecklivinglegacy.com/

PANELLIST BIOGRAPHIES:

Darius Brubeck

Pianist, composer and band leader, Darius Brubeck was the Head of Jazz Studies and Director of the Centre for Jazz & Popular Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa from 1983 until 2006 when he moved to London and established The Darius Brubeck Quartet. This group’s most recent recording Live in Poland (listed in Downbeat’s best of 2020) reflects their international profile.

His book, Playing the Changes, coauthored with his wife, Catherine, was published internationally in July 2024 by the University of Illinois Press.

Link:www.dariusbrubeck.com

Nick Smart

Head of Jazz at the Royal Academy of Music, Nick Smart is an internationally renowned jazz educator, trumpeter and conductor who has given guest masterclasses and performances around the world. Nick has performed alongside some of the leading names in jazz and was a member of the late Kenny Wheeler's Big Band with whom he had a long association and has just finished co-writing Wheeler's biography. He has released three albums as a leader to critical acclaim, including 2005’s Remembering Nick Drake which was described by Straight No Chaser Magazine as “…a future classic because it really captures all that is best about British jazz…”. He has been equally in demand as both educator and musical director.

Link: www.ram.ac.uk

Claire Martin

Claire Martin OBE has established herself as a tour de force on the UK jazz scene and rest of world, gaining many prestigious awards including winning the British Jazz Awards eight times during her career which spans over three decades. In 2018 she was the proud recipient of the BASCA Gold Badge Award for her contribution to Songwriting and was awarded the OBE for her Services to Jazz in 2011.

Claire shares her perspective on the Brubeck Living Legacy Prize: “I’m excited to hear the next generation of musicians coming through and it is this kind of platform that can really provide the perfect launch pad for up-and-coming musicians as they embark on their career in the music industry.”

Link: https://clairemartinjazz.co.uk/

Martin Hummel

Martin Hummel is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in managing communications for brands and international artists on a global, regional and local basis across multiple disciplines and business sectors.

In 2017, he founded the Ubuntu Music, the jazz record label, whose artists include Darius Brubeck, Chet Baker, Eric Alexander, Harold Mabern, Paul Booth, Tim Garland and rising stars from all corners of the world.

Link: www.weareubuntumusic.com

Ubuntu Music Signs Outstanding Japanese Pianist Yoko Miwa For Next Album Release

February 17, 2020 Martin Hummel

YOKO MIWA

UBU0057 / CD, Digital & Vinyl Formats

Release Date: 6th November 2020

Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the signing of internationally acclaimed pianist/composer Yoko Miwa, to release her forthcoming album late this year.

Yoko is one of the most powerful and compelling performers on the scene today. Her trio, with its remarkable telepathy and infectious energy, has brought audiences to their feet worldwide. Their latest album, 2019’s Keep Talkin’, showcases Miwa’s fine playing and artful compositions and the trio’s uncanny musical camaraderie. DownBeat gave this recording four stars, calling it “a beautifully constructed album” and noting “the drive and lyricism of a pianist and composer at home in bebop, gospel, pop, and classical.” USA’s JazzTimes also reviewed the album favourably, praising Miwa’s “jaw-dropping degree of technique.” The album enjoyed seven weeks in the Top 10 on Jazz Week’s charts, much like its predecessor, Miwa’s 2017 release Pathways, which also made Jazz Week’s top 10 for a number of weeks. In a 2017 feature article on Miwa, DownBeat noted her “impressive technique and a tuneful lyricism that combines an Oscar Peterson-ish hard swing with Bill Evans-like introspection.”

For the past decade Miwa’s trio has played regularly at major jazz clubs in their home city of Boston, as well as venues around the world. A favourite of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Miwa was chosen to play on “Marian McPartland & Friends”, part of the Coca-Cola Generations in Jazz Festival. She was also chosen to perform at Lincoln Center’s annual Jazz and Leadership Workshop for The National Urban League’s Youth Summit. Miwa also appears regularly at New York’s famed Blue Note Jazz Club and Birdland, and has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of jazz greats including Sheila Jordan, Slide Hampton, Arturo Sandoval, George Garzone, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kevin Mahogany, John Lockwood and Johnathan Blake among others. In 2018 she performed on the main stage at the Atlanta Jazz Festival and the Litchfield Jazz Festival, where her trio drew the largest audience of any act. She is a Yamaha Pianos Artist, JVC Victor Entertainment recording artist, 2019 Boston Music Awards Jazz Artist of the Year, and Boston Phoenix Best Music poll winner.

Miwa’s story of becoming a jazz musician is full of serendipity and happy twists of fate. In the late 1990s the classically trained artist auditioned for Berklee College of Music on a lark and ended up winning a full scholarship. She arrived at the school from her homeland of Japan in 1997, intending to stay for a year. In 2020, she’s still in Boston, enriching the city’s musical life and serving as one of the most popular professors in the Berklee piano department.

Act Naturally, the Yoko Miwa Trio’s major label debut in Japan, came out in 2012 on the JVC Victor Entertainment label and the band toured Japan that same year. “She is one of the best jazz pianists in Japan,” said Yozo Iwanami of Jazz Hihyo Magazine.

A native of Kobe, Japan, Miwa didn’t pursue an interest in jazz until she met and studied with Minoru Ozone, a popular television organist and nightclub owner who is the father of pianist Makoto Ozone. Miwa worked at Ozone’s club and as an accompanist and piano instructor at his music school until the great Kobe earthquake of 1995 destroyed both facilities. Then, while continuing to take private lessons from Minoru Ozone, she also pursued musical studies at the Koyo Conservatory in Kobe. From there she won first prize in a scholarship competition to attend Berklee.

Concerning Miwa’s signing with Ubuntu Music, the artist explains her decision: “Since my identity as a jazz musician cannot be simply expressed in a singular emotion or atmosphere, signing with the Ubuntu label is fate. The meaning, ‘I am because we are’, is already a natural fit with who I am as a musician and what I express through my music which is a wide-ranging palette. On my initial release I plan to show just that by merely being myself, playing in service of the music instead of self-serving. Connecting with audiences through music has been my mantra as long as I've been a jazz performer. My debut on the Ubuntu label will feature my signature calling card of playing in different jazz contexts with spontaneity and clarity…from Monk to Zeppelin, Milt Jackson to Milton Nascimento and more, as well as featuring a healthy dose of my original compositions.”

Laura Hess-Hay, President of Ellora Management, who manages Ahmad Jamal, Hiromi, Marialy Pacheco, Ubuntu’s Hakan Başar and now Yoko Miwa, said, " Ellora Management is so filled with gratitude to Martin Hummel and Ubuntu Music for the signing of our new artist, Yoko Miwa. Martin and Ubuntu have such high standards when choosing their artists as they also help guide each artist in developing their full potential. Ellora Management and Yoko Miwa are elated to be a part the Ubuntu Family!”

Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, describes the Label’s latest signing: “I was first introduced to Yoko by Laura Hess-Hay, head of Ellora Management, which represents Ahmad Jamal, Hiromi, Marialy Pacheco and, most recently, Hakan Başar, one of Ubuntu’s talented young artists. Laura had just signed Yoko and waxed lyrically about her, inviting me to consider releasing Yoko’s music. It was love at first sight and first sound. Yoko is an exceedingly gifted individual, who effortlessly weaves between a variety of contemporary musical counterparts, while always expressing the music through her own voice. It is a joy to be working with Yoko and with Laura, as Yoko joins our growing and increasingly dynamic Ubuntu Music Family.”

For further information, please contact:

Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music (Worldwide): info@ubuntumanagementgroup.com

Laura Hess-Hay/Ellora Management: ElloraManagement@aol.com

Ann Braithwaite/Braithwaite & Katz Comms (US) ann@bkmusicpr.com

Emma Perry (UK) emmasarahperry@gmail.com