“Tineke Postma plays with a ‘new sense of urgency’ on Freya”

- Downbeat

THE STORY

Spring, March 20, 2020, Tineke's seventh album (Edition Records, UK) was released internationally and it received great critical acclaim. Freya was recorded in NYC in the Oktaven Studio with trumpet player Ralph Alessi, bass player Matt Brewer, drummer Dan Weiss and with features for pianist Kris Davis .For Tineke, she considers this upcoming album Freya as a come-back as a leader. Her last release was Sonic Halo (Challenge International, 2014) which received raving international critics.

FREYA is Tineke’s most personal project to date with new work she created in the past year. Motherhood provided a wide range of emotions and new visions on her life. Lyrical melodies, exciting chords, groovy pieces, lots of interplay between the band members, room for silence and adventure.Tineke: "I like to write multi-layered music with conceptual elements. The musicians I asked to join are free to do with it what they want. They are some of the most creative musicians around so I knew that it was going to be great whatever they came up with.

"When Tineke heard Jack DeJohnette’s group 'Made in Chicago' including Roscoe Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams for the first time at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2015 she was blown away by the immense creativity, energy and adventure these masters were exposing.
The magical sounds and approach to improv of Roscoe Mitchell were new to her. Full of inspiration, Tineke started digging into the history, sounds and concepts of the avant-garde jazzscene of Chicago and this has become a vital extension of Tineke’s jazz idiom.

Tineke is also inspired by saxophonist Lee Konitz, her mentors Greg Osby and Terri Lyne Carrington, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. Tineke did an extensive study of various 20th Century composers such as Slonimisky and Messiaen and incorporated this into her personal style which can be described as lyrical, melodic, adventurous, groovy and emotional.

Writing for a group consisting of sax, trumpet, bass and drums and no harmony instrument is new to Tineke. "I was forced not to lean on the support of a pianist or guitarist and therefore to write strong melodies which stand strongly on their own. Still, I really love the piano and that's why I invited the fantastic Kris Davis for the album for a couple of features. "

MEANING OF FREYA

“The album Freya is a tribute to creation in all its facets. In Norse and Frisian mythology, Freya is a goddess of creation, love and fertility. She’s the mother of all Frisian children - I was born and raised in Friesland, a beautiful region in the north Netherlands."Throughout this album I want to celebrate my new life as a mother which has been a profound and enriching experience".

In addition to Freya, Tineke was inspired for this project by influential historical women such as Aspasia; wife of the statesman Perikles was a scholar and philosopher who had a great influence on Athenian culture in the 5th century BC. Women were treated as second-class citizens at the time. She used her status to open a school for philosophy and rhetoric. She is known for having an enormous influence on leaders and philosophers such as Plato and Socrates. 

Juno Lucina was the ruler of the heavens in Roman mythology, just as her husband Jupiter was the ruler of it. She was the mother of Vulcan and Mars.

Tineke’s collaboration with pianist and composer Geri Allen who died in 2017 has had a great impact on Tineke as a musician and human being. Geri was an extremely creative and influential pianist who also raised three children. Tineke feels deep admiration for her; Geri showed her beautiful human side in her music and was active as an artist at the highest level.

Tineke’s mother, grandmother and other female ladies who had a share in raising Tineke are also celebrated on the album Freya.