Eine Amsterdamer Multimedia-Show erwartet uns: Verführerisch, lustig, heraufordernd, böse – aber immer mit großer musikalischer Tiefe und starken Rhythmen: Video-Spots, digitalisierte Telefonstimmen, Rhythmen und jazzige Improvisation. Was locker-flockig und teils belustigend daher kommt, hat auch beim genauen Zuhören hohe Ansprüche.

The members of Tin Men and the Telephone (TM&T), graduates of the Amsterdam Conservatory, share great enthusiasm and a belief that there is much space to disclose in improvised music. Three enthusiastic musicians, who grew up with modern classical, hip hop, Balkan rhythms and contemporary forms, present jazz in a new guise. Seductive, funny, challenging, wicked – but always with great musical depth and strong rhythms. For people who want to hear … and see something new. Because for TM&T it is obvious that music comes with images.

The repertoire? A complete translation of Messiaen’s Danse de la Fureur in jazz jargon, a surprising arrangement of Nokia ringtones, music by and for animals, and a nostalgic piece of old-time jazz.

In the performance of TM&T the everyday life environment is a source of musical theatrical and visual inspiration. Elements that normally go unnoticed or are just annoying, are picked up and incorporated in the performance: queues of service lines, directions from car navigations, ring-tones, a screaming football reporters, abrasive and rumbled traffic noise, but also animal sounds – for TM&T they are all useful. Through the subtle and unobtrusive use of new techniques, music and ambient sound are brought together so closely that dialogues appear and novel experiences emerge. Almost all electronics are controlled from the piano, through a key-scanning device.

Being also members of other bands and formations, the three musicians gained a lot of experience on stages internationally. They combine this experience in their search for new possibilities within improvised music. TMT is not only a musical performance; it’s a total experience – an interactive combination of improvised music, speech, samples and visuals.

In July 2010 TM&T recorded their debut album Moetjenou?! in Amsterdam. Since the CD release at RoeM Records in October 2010 they have received rave reviews in leading magazines and newspapers in the Netherlands.