Dutch saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and bandleader Willem
Breuker was probably the single most well-known, prolific, and
influential figure in 20th century Dutch music. From his early
free jazz days to his role as longtime leader of the successful
Willem Breuker Kollektief, he accomplished much in creative
music from the 1960s into the 21st century. In addition to
performing, Breuker helped instigate changes in government
subsidies for jazz and improvised music, he co-founded two
important… Show more independent Dutch labels -- ICP and BVHaast
-- and he unabashedly mixed genres and incorporated humor and
theater into his compositions, with a love of experimentation
and a definite dedication to music. On November 4, 1944, Willem
Breuker was born into the final (and bare-bones) winter of WWII
and grew up in a middle-class home in Amsterdam East. He
recalled a childhood filled with sound and music: loud
neighbors, the yelling fish merchant, a marching band that
rehearsed nearby, a barrel organist -- all of