From Creative Differences:
Instant Composers Pool (ICP) – a collective of Dutch composers and improvisers – was formed in 1967 by Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink, and Willem Breuker to further the cause of experimental, category-bending music both socially and politically. The corresponding, artist-run ICP Records has released over 40 albums and is the longest running label of its kind. Performing live, the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra has featured many of the most challenging creative artists of the past 40 years, including Derek Bailey, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, John Tchicai, Alan Silva, and many others. The current line-up for the ICP Orchestra consists of 10 of the most innovative artists from around the globe, truly exemplifying the cosmopolitan and relentlessly creative drive that has animated the collective since the late-1960s. From ragtime to swing, composed pieces to improvisation, bop to free jazz, classical to carnivalesque, the ICP Orchestra continues to be at the forefront of the creative music that they have been so influential in founding, proliferating and supporting over the last five decades.
