Mohammad Motamedi (Iran)
The Rembrandt Trio, consisting of Rembrandt Frerichs (piano), Tony Overwater (double bass/violone) and Vinsent Planjer (drums and percussion), shares a deep curiosity and wanderlust, and has successfully collaborated several times with Iranian grandmasters like Hossein Alizadeh and Kayhan Kalhor. Because of their jazz background, the trio has extensive experience in improvisation, which is essential to their successful collaborations with Iranians; improvisation plays a crucial role in traditional Persian classical music.
Motamedi’s approach is fascinating; upon hearing the trio’s first bars, he delves into his memory to find poems that fit the mood. He knows countless poems from the Persian canon, which he recites and sings, while freely improvising on the trio’s music and being rhythmically guided by the metre. The text is fixed, but the melody and music intertwine, responding to each other and allowing for plenty of improvisation.