Guitarist Syberen van Munster releases debut album “Plunge for Distance” with Ben van Gelder, Vitor Gonçalves, Martin Nevin, Mark Schilders

"Syberen has grown into a strong musical personality with a unique compositional vision. I thoroughly enjoyed this record." - Ben Monder

For his debut album Plunge For Distance, Dutch guitarist Syberen van Munster has brought together an unusual formation of talented peers: Saxophonist and Monk competition semi-finalist Ben van Gelder, Brazilian accordionist and Hermeto Pascoal band member Vitor Gonçalves, the bass player Rick Rosato, known for his work with Jonathan Kreisberg, and drummer Mark Schilders, one of the most in-demand
musicians in the Netherlands currently.
From a wide array of influences that include Elis Regina, Samuel Barber, Boards of Canada, and Gil Evans, they craft a sound that is lush, pulsating, and subtly melancholic. Due to the atypical instrumentation, the music can be at times orchestral, fully utilizing the harmonic spectrum.
A key feature of the album is the use of accordion, an instrument not often heard in
jazz music. More frequently appearing in jumpy folk styles, van Munster chooses to use the instrument as if it were an organ, creating droning and harmonically rich tapestries of sound. Vitor Gonçalves also takes to the Wurlitzer electric piano on a few tracks.
A native of Amsterdam, Syberen van Munster has lived in New York City since 2009, where he has performed at venues such as Smoke Jazz Club, The Blue Note, Rockwood Music Hall, and the city's go-to jazz guitar club, the Bar Next Door. He regularly jumps out of the fish tank that is New York however, to perform at such
places as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., The North Sea Jazz Festival in The
Netherlands or The Boozy Muse in Tokyo.
The album title refers to a 1904 Olympic event, where plungees would drop themselves into a pool and try to float as far as possible, until they ran out of breath.
Needless to say, it was hardly a spectacle for onlookers, and the sport never returned
thereafter.
Afraid of water as a kid, a major handicap when growing up in a very wet country, Syberen spent most of his swimming lessons on the side of the pool, afraid to take the plunge. After a few years of dipping his toe in the water, he is ready to take the figurative dive and release the band's debut album.