That’s the Spirit

I was a very young viol player, still half stuck in the school benches, when I first got invited to join The Spirit of Gambo.

Somewhere during my first rehearsal with this adventurous Dutch viol consort, a certain **click** was heard.

I guess they thought I was a bit young, but promising, I guess I thought they were a bit old but still good fun.

That was back in 2005, and this initial click set of a collaboration that still lasts today in 2019!

We got to know each other rather well, over the years, both musically and personally. This  layering and ripening of musicianship and friendship, only possible over lots of time, and with lots of love and care, is absolutely priceless!

The composer that got a lot of facetime from the Spirit is John Jenkins (1592 – 1678). We vowed at least  3 CD’s to his oeuvre, of which the last one is JUST OUT!

To celebrate this new arrival, we held a tour of 5 concerts in The Netherlands, joined by our German colleague Irene Klein. The two of us got to share a fun duet, on the bass viols  Ezel and Vos (Donkey and Fox).

John Jenkins, duet for 2 bass viols (excerpt), by Irene Klein and Thomas Baeté, March 2019 @ Haarlem, Doopsgezinde Kerk