The new album 'Institute of Higher Learning' is the second collaboration between American pianist Kenny Werner and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. This is an intense and challenging album: Werner varies moods and atmospheres at a rapid tempo, while the arrangement continues to flow naturally and organically. The most surprising track is undoubtedly Werner's version of the famous traditional song 'House of the Rising Sun'.
Kenny Werner and Brussels Jazz Orchestra have a history with each other since 1999 and have previously made the album Naked in the cosmos (2003), followed by a successful concert tour in Belgium, the USA and Austria. In the fall of 2010 BJO and Werner played a series of concerts in the famous Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Back in Belgium, the artists went to the studio to record another album together. In the spring of 2012 the BJO returned to New York to perform at the Blue Note jazz club for a whole week, joined on the stage by Kenny Werner.
Kenny WernerKenny Werner, Brussels Jazz Orchestra
From the press
01 Jul 2012
*** 1/2
Distant voices run throughout the oftentimes lush, sometimes bombastic, most often thoroughly musical set of seven compositions.
01 Nov 2011
Choc
(This album) sets the standard even higher.
02 Sep 2011
Cd: Kenny Werner & Brussels Jazz Orchestra
One of the best releases from the BJO.