Chris Corstens Quartet (CCQ)

The Amsterdam-based creative jazz outfit Chris Corstens Quartet — aka CCQ — is led by Corstens (a composer who plays tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones but targets tenor and soprano within this setting) and includes drummer Martin van Leusden (who in addition has collaborated with Corstens in two other rings, Vacuum and Cosmix) and two members of avant jazz/creative improvisational quartet the Ambush Party, pianist Oscar Jan Hoogland and five-string cellist Harald Austbø. In Sept 2011, CCQ documented the record Treiffel at Palmgracht 71 in Amsterdam. Released in March 2013 with the de Platenbakkerij label, Treiffel features ten Corstens compositions (including two parts, “Bootlegs” and “Blublu,” also noticed in previous versions over the saxophonist’s 2001 self-released My First Bootleg) that display the leader’s solid and interesting saxophone function while mixing post-bop and contemporary creative jazz using the affects of Dutch avant jazz forerunners including Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink, and Ernst Reijseger.