As guest curator of Festival Dag in de Branding, Klaas de Vries was adamant about one thing: ‘his’ edition of the festival would have to include a performance by Sander Germanus’ microtonal jazz band. The ensemble’s full name: Sander Germanus & the Hallucinating Harmonists. With a name like that you hardly need to play music anymore, but fortunately the octet does so anyway, and it sounds even better than the name.

De Vries was completely blown away by Germanus and his band when he first heard them play at the November Music festival in Den Bosch. Germanus himself describes his work as ‘microtonal music that is extremely difficult to play’, and that’s not wrong. But you would be wrong to expect an introverted performance by overly finicky perfectionists – the Hallucinating Harmonists know how to swing with the best of them.

The line-up consists of drums, bass, electric guitar, keyboards, three saxes and trumpet, with Germanus as a composing (and non-playing) band member. The instruments were adapted or self-built, to allow for playing in unusual tunings. Germanus has written very diverse pieces with influences from all kinds of genres, from ‘proper’ jazz to ambient, pop and classical music. The result is a rollercoaster of sonic disorientation that is above all extremely compelling and entertaining.