from the EP Cubicle Life

Chris Abelen Revisited

Over the years, my albums have accumulated quietly — composed, recorded and produced on my own terms, released into a world that was under no obligation to notice. The early ones were reviewed well, in the Netherlands and internationally — Downbeat, Jazz Times, Cadence, Jazzpodium, NRC Handelsblad, the Penguin Guide to Jazz, among others. The later ones less so, as the music world moved on to other things. That’s the nature of the business.

Chris Abelen Revisited is my attempt to tip the odds slightly. I’ve gone back through the catalogue and picked the tracks I’ve always felt were the most direct, the most immediate — the ones where the melody does the heavy lifting and the groove is hard to ignore. Call them my idea of hits, for what that’s worth in jazz.

Each single gets a new cover and a fresh release on all streaming platforms. The music itself is unchanged — why fix what isn’t broken? — but hopefully a few more ears will find it this time around.

To go with the series, I’ve put together a playlist — A fresh take on jazz — mixing the re-released tracks with more recent material, including songs from the new EP Cubicle Life. Old and new, back to back, the way it should be heard. Available on Spotify, Qobuz and YouTube and others.

NEW SHEET MUSIC from A day at the office

now available – play along with the minus one studio recording tracks