Kika Sprangers Quintet
Saxophonist Kika Sprangers presents the album river, river with her regular small ensemble. Through poetic jazz and narrative music, she explores the river as a metaphor for the human life cycle.
From profound stillness to orchestral power: that is the acclaimed color palette of saxophonist and composer Kika Sprangers (Nijmegen 1994). Listening to Sprangers is like looking at a painting by Rothko: hidden within her musical color planes are undercurrents that unconsciously sweep the audience along. With her distinctive, melodic, and dark saxophone sound, Sprangers is a leading voice in the Dutch jazz scene. This status was underscored in 2025 by winning an Edison Jazz Nationaal for the album (In)finity.
In Kika’s search for what makes us human, the new project river, river (2026) is her most personal work to date. Her new music reflects the river as a metaphor for humanity and its life cycle: how it develops, flows, goes its own way, meanders, or churns fiercely. Kika grew up by the river and can relate to this metaphor. The concert series celebrates the release of the eponymous album, which the band recorded at Wisseloord Studios with producer Mete Erker and sound engineer Ted Masseurs. Together with her bandmates Anna Serierse, Koen Schalkwijk, William Barrett, and Wouter Kühne, she creates a sound world that takes you along, overwhelms you, and moves you. Anna Serierse’s usually wordless voice blends effortlessly with Kika’s saxophone sound. On this new album, the band members play together effortlessly in an emotional interplay with intention. The band has a strong collective sound that embraces you as a listener. Live, the music comes to life in adventurous interplay and improvisations.
