De Reizende Verkoper (Dutch for The Travelling Salesman) was an obscure freak jazz improvisation band created around Croatian avant-garde musicians who settled in Amsterdam during the nineties (maybe late 80's). The band consists of guitarist Razorblade Jr., drummer Marc and sax player Kafka (Damir Prica). Some members were a.o. also involved in the no-wave group Blisters and the highly recommended experimental group Pink Noise Quartet.
During the 80's and the 90's there were quite some Eastern European underground musicians that came to live in Holland. Many of them came from Ex-Yugoslavia. An example could be the great Croatian experimental punk band SexA. All these musicians brought a new energy to the Dutch and mostly Amsterdam local underground and improvisation scene. I know a lot more about this scene because I knew some people in person being a child, but I rather keep that personal.
Aguardiente is a great album of experimental improvisation and no-wave with free-jazz freak out moments. It was recorded in a matter of a few hours in an Amsterdam basement in 1999, probably with some good quality aguardiente involved. It's a pure example of the vivid Yugo impro scene that had an important influence on what maybe can be viewed as the last real vibrant time of music in the Amsterdam underground. At least it's a scene that was never properly covered or given the right attention in music history. Luckily some of the protagonists are still active!
Obscure impro greatness all over!
Get it HERE
