Misha Mengelberg

Biography

Mengelberg was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, the son of Dutch conductor Karel Mengelberg (1902-1984) and grand-nephew of conductor Willem Mengelberg. Karel Mengelberg worked in Berlin, Barcelona, Kiev and Amsterdam, and wrote 'Catalunya Renaixent' for the Banda Municipal of Barcelona in 1934. Misha's family moved back to the Netherlands in the late 1930s and he began learning piano at age five. He was considered a chess marvel at age nine and continued competing in chess championships in the 1970s.

He briefly studied architecture before entering the Royal Conservatory in The Hague from 1958 to 1964, where he won first prize at a jazz festival in Loosdrecht and became associated with Fluxus. Early influences included Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, and John Cage, whom he heard lecture at Darmstadt. He won the Gaudeamus International Composers Award in 1961. Among his first recordings was Eric Dolphy's Last Date (1964), also featuring drummer Han Bennink.

With Bennink and saxophonist Piet Noordijk, he formed a quartet that played at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966. In 1967 he co-founded the Instant Composers Pool with Bennink and Willem Breuker, and in 1969 co-founded STEIM in Amsterdam. He often performed in duo with Bennink, and with Derek Bailey, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, and his pet parrot. He was an early exponent of Herbie Nichols's work.

He wrote music for others and oversaw music theatre productions with absurdist humour. A 2006 DVD release, Afijn, contains an 80-minute documentary and concert footage. He died in Amsterdam on 3 March 2017, aged 81, from undisclosed causes.