The title says it all: Conversations. Jasper van't Hof, Paul Heller, Martin Gjakonovski and Bodek Janke have intensive musical conversations, they talk amicably, wittily, informally, but never without commitment. You listen to them as if you were listening to a confidential conversation that you can't, and don't have to, avoid: The Inspirational Conversation is made to be shared and enjoyed. We have a communication that works incredibly naturally, enthuses Paul Heller. None of us feels pushed in any direction, it's a conversation between friends who get along well. Heller is aware that Jasper van't Hof's contribution is something very special: Jasper doesn't accompany, he brings constantly coming up with things that you react to and do things in turn that you probably never would have done otherwise. Paul Heller was already listening to Jasper van't Hof's records when he was young, especially his albums with Bob Malach and Charlie Mariano are still enormously important to me to this day. They played together for the first time at a birthday concert for Ack van Royen, whereupon Heller invited van't Hof to his concert series Paul Heller invites.... It was 2013 and I thought that Martin Gjakonovski and Bodek Janke could fit in well. Even the sound check was magical, and after an amazing concert we decided to stay together as a band from now on. Right from the start, it was important to Heller to emphasize van't Hof's compositional side in particular: His pieces have an emotionality that you don't normally get doesn't know. This is exactly what characterizes the first album by the Jasper van't Hof/Paul Heller Group. Several of van't Hof's compositions are now classics, and one can look forward to re-encountering pieces such as Pas de Deux, Mute or Easy Draw. Of course, one quickly realizes that they sound pleasantly familiar, but at the same time so fresh as if they had been written for this album.
