Teun Verbruggen: Drums
Alain Deval: Drums
Jeroen Van Herzeele: Sax
Geoffrey Burton: Guitar

The possibilities of a question mark are more interesting than the certainty of an exclamation mark. When drummer Teun Verbruggen founded The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (named after the Canadian company that produces nutrients for fertilizer) with Jeroen Van Herzeele (saxophone) and Geoffrey Burton (guitar), the goal was to uncover unfamiliar territory and turn it inside-out. With the addition of extra drummer Alain Deval the reach of the band is expanded even further. While firmly rooted in jazz and improvised music, the quartet immerses itself in a universe where acoustic, electric and electronic elements seamlessly merge into a dazzling sound that’s utterly contemporary and genre-defying.It is a sound that maintains a striking balance of patience and voluptuousness, with Van Herzeeleâ’s searing lines intertwining intensely with waves of wailing guitar feedback, electronic hums and skittering percussive accents. It is a sound that is about potential and exploration, both drummers painting with nuance and abstraction, delving into the ritual or providing an unstoppable thrust, while the guitar becomes an eccentric sound generator. At times, the interaction might even remind you of the otherworldly projects of Thomas Köner, merging the cerebral with the palpable, the music almost disappearing into itself. Intricate, majestic and fearlessly exploratory, the music of TPCOS offers an abundance of thrills for open ears. – Guy Peters

pictures copyright Simon Plancke