Dutch Flin van Hemmen is on a constant musical journey. He began his musical journey playing the guitar but became a jazz drummer who toured with Michael Brecker and lesser-known gods. He moved to New York in 2008 where he became active in the local fringes of jazz and improv scenes. He played the piano and drums in his trio Casting Spells (with guitarist Todd Neufeld and Norwegian bassist Eivind Opsvik). Since 2015 he opted to be a sound artist in his home studio, processing recorded material in the digital realm, when he realized that we all look for that bit of magic that we know is always around the corner.
Luxury of Mind finds van Hemmen exploring the sonic landscapes of Central Park. He explains that the album was created when he felt that «to thaw matters of the heart, one must go to where it’s cold. It was the summer of 2022 and I was finally summoned there. My personal winter had come, a place at once foreign and familiar. In a flash, I was made aware of all my life’s dimensions – the ones less welcome, or simply too big to face. My sense of musicianship was temporarily halted, at that point unsure of its return».
Fortunately, in early 2024 van Hemmen knew that his personal winter was waning and he started “tinkering away again, musically. The pitter-patter of the rain, the orchestra rehearsing their parts simultaneously, the sounds inside the corner store where I buy my daily coffee.
And how do they sound, together? What indeterminacies reveal themselves, or do I pick up on?”
Van Hemmen disciplines his reflections on «Eloquence of Grief», as one of the pieces is titled, and the urban landscapes of New York into loose but layered, rhythmic, and even operatic textures. He focuses on how field recordings, including urban noises, harmony, and melody can simultaneously create space for improvised textures. These eight, short textures are weaved into a mysterious, often dream-like narrative, informing and feeding each other with their enigmatic sonic insights.
Eyal Hareuveni
