I met Joe at a gig last year, where he sat in for a couple of tunes. Within a few bars, the timing between us just clicked. Locking in with him was easy, the groove and the language were already shared, and nothing had to be explained. We talked afterwards and he told me he was moving to the Netherlands with his family. So the drummer I had just connected with wasn’t passing through; he was coming to live here.
I have known Omer for more than a decade, and somehow we had never worked together in a setting like this, with the possibility of something beyond the usual short project or chance session. We put the first session together, and it was good enough that we understood straight away we had something on our hands.
The trio played its first concert at the Red Light Jazz Festival in Amsterdam on 7 June 2026. I sent Brendon Heinst a demo from one of our rehearsals. He wrote back: “Dibs! I want to record you guys.” Soon after, TRPTK came in behind that decision, and we were given Wisseloord, the legendary studio where great musicians such as Stan Getz, Bill Evans, and many pop and rock artists have recorded since the 60s.
We recorded on 5 August 2026. The three of us played together in one room, no separation, just our sound as a group. We started at twelve and we were done by four. It was the easiest, most relaxed recording I have ever done.
That day taught me something about trust: when the music is ready, it materialises, and it creates the circumstances around it that let it reach people. Brendon had already seen that pattern in earlier productions we made together. This one brought a new approach to our collaboration and to the sustainability behind it.
Some bands you put together. This one assembled itself.
