Quick Facts
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Yuri Honing (born 6 July 1965) is a Dutch jazz saxophonist.
Career
Yuri Honing starts his own Trio in 1990, with bassist Tony Overwater and drummer Joost Lijbaart. The absence of a chordal instrument in the band gives the threesome great harmonic freedom.
Honing had his first major success in 1996 with his album Star Tracks, which comprised recordings of pop songs as an alternative to the American Songbook. The album became a hit in the Netherlands and Germany, and gained significant notice in the UK as well. The album contains songs by Abba and The Police among others. Honing uses their material as a basis for improvisation; he gladly points out that jazz musicians of previous generations were doing exactly the same. The album Sequel that Honing records in 1999 is in the same vein, using material by Björk, Blondie and others.
The CD Playing (1998) finds Honing performing alongside veteran pianist Misha Mengelberg in twelve freely improvised tracks. Two years later the project gets a sequel at the North Sea Jazz Festival, with cellist Ernst Reijseger as third improviser. The recordings find their way onto the CD Lively (2000).
In 2001, Honing met Paul Bley and recorded the album Seven with Bley on piano, Gary Peacock on bass and Paul Motian on drums. This album garnered Honing the Dutch Edison Award in 2002. In The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (Eighth Edition) this CD was recognized with four (out of five) stars.
Memory Lane is recorded by Honing in 2002, together with members of the Amsterdam based Concertgebouw Orchestra. It is his first project with musicians from the world of classical music.
In addition to his activities in acoustic and classical music, in 2005 Honing starts a new electric band, Wired Paradise. It features Tony Overwater (on bass guitar) and Joost Lijbaart plus the German guitarist Frank Möbus, best known for his work with the trio Der Rote Bereich.
The saxophonist enters into a new classical collaboration with the Metropole Orchestra in 2006. With conductor Vince Mendoza at the rostrum he records the CD Symphonic with this orchestra. Just like he considers contemporary pop music to be the continuation of the Great American Songbook, Honing sees a parallel between that particular song form and Franz Schubert's lieder. He therefore decides to record a full instrumental version of Schubert's song cycle Winterreise, accompanied by the classical pianist Nora Mulder (2007). He also uses Winterreise as the title for a special concert evening with guests which the saxophonist organizes every year on December 29 at the Amsterdam Paradiso.
In 2009 Honing forms an acoustic band with a chordal instrument for the first time! In his Acoustic Quartet Wolfert Brederode is the pianist, Ruben Samama on double bass, and Joost Lijbaart once again the drummer. That same year Honing also invites dance producer Floris Klinkert for a collaboration, resulting in the CD Phase Five. On this album Floris makes use of samples from the saxophonist's entire discography to produce new compositions. The resulting songs are sung by pop singers like Leine, Sarah Bettens (known of the band K's Choice) and Lilian Vieira (of the band Zuco 103); in addition Honing himself is featured as a soloist. January 2012 Yuri Honing won the Dutch Boy Edgar Prijs.
Other career highlights
- 2001 Honing toured with Bley and bassist Charlie Haden.
- 2003 He performed with guitarist Pat Metheny and bassist Scott Colley.
- 2006 He recorded Symphonic with arranger and composer Vince Mendoza.
- "Edison Awards Prijswinnaars" (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 November 2009.
- Richard Cook & Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (Eighth Edition), Penguin Books, 2006
Discography
Albums with Yuri Honing as co-leader and/or bandleader
| Year | Album | Label / productcode | Band | Line-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | A Matter Of Conviction | Art in Jazz; 991 002-2 | Yuri Honing Trio | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, Tony Overwater – double bass, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 1996 | Star Tracks | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75043 | Yuri Honing Trio | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone,Tony Overwater – double bass, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 1998 | Playing | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75044 | Yuri Honing & Misha Mengelberg | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Misha Mengelberg – piano |
| 1999 | Sequel | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75045 | Yuri Honing Trio | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, Tony Overwater – double bass, whistle, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 2000 | Lively | Buzz Records; ZZ 76015 | Yuri Honing/Misha Mengelberg/Ernst Reijseger | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Misha Mengelberg – piano, Ernst Reijseger - cello |
| 2001 | Memory Lane | Turtle Records; TRSA 0010 | Yuri Honing | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Maarten Ornstein – clarinet, bass clarinet, Emily Benyon – whistle, Jacob Slagter – horn, Keiko Iwate – violin, Fred Pot – cello, Achim Kaufmann – piano, Frans van der Hoeven – double bass, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 2001 | Seven | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75086 | Yuri Honing/Paul Bley/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, Paul Bley – piano, Gary Peacock – double bass, Paul Motian – drums |
| 2002 | Orient Express | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75123 | Yuri Honing Trio & Rima Kheich, Basem Havar, Latif al Obaidi | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, Tony Overwater – double bass, whistle, Joost Lijbaart – drums, Rima Kheich – vocals, Basem Havar - djose, Latif al Obaidi – ud, darbuka, riq |
| 2004 | Alive | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75213 | Yuri Honing Trio | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, Tony Overwater – double bass, whistle, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 2006 | Symphonic | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75227 | Yuri Honing, Vince Mendoza & Metropole Orchestra | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Vince Mendoza – dirigent, Metropole Orchestra. |
| 2006 | Temptation | 2 CD; Jazz in Motion; JIM 75228 | Yuri Honing Wired Paradise | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Frank Möbus – guitar, Tony Overwater – bass, double bass, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 2007 | Winterreise | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75368 | Yuri Honing & Nora Mulder | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Misha Mengelberg – piano |
| 2008 | Meet Your Demons | Jazz in Motion; JIM 75419 | Yuri Honing Wired Paradise | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Frank Möbus – guitar, Paul Jan Bakker – guitar, Tony Overwater – bass, double bass, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 2009 | Phase Five | Verve; 270377-4 | Yuri Honing & Floris | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Floris Klinkert – beats, programming, David Pinao – vocals, guitar, Leine – vocals, guitar, Janne Schra – vocals, Lilian Vieria – vocals, Sarah Bettens – vocals, Olger Star – scratches, Sietse van Gorkom – violin, Ro Krauss – viola, Stef van Es – guitar, Lucas Dols – double bass |
| 2010 | White Tiger | JIM 75966 | Yuri Honing Wired Paradise | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Frank Möbus – guitar, Stef van Es – guitar, Mark Haanstra – bass, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 2012 | True | CR73336 | Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet | Yuri Honing – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Wolfert Brederode – piano, Ruben Samam – bass, Joost Lijbaart – drums |
| 2016 | Desire | CR73378 | Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet | Yuri Honing - tenor saxophone, Wolfert Brederode - piano, Gulli Gudmundsson - bass, Joost Lijbaart - drums |
Personal life
Honing lives in Amsterdam. Yuri is the younger brother of musicologist Henkjan Honing. Yuri Honing is also active as an organizer: each year he organizes the Winterreise music evening in Paradiso (famous popvenue) in Amsterdam. For this occasion he invites musicians of various genres and different generations to co-create a beautifully blended evening. The first edition of Winterreise was in 2007 and started with an opening speech by Job Cohen, then mayor of Amsterdam.