Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra was founded as a label and group concept in the late '60s when reedist Willem Breuker and drummer Han Bennink self-released a duo recording on a label they named ICP. Fellow Dutch musician and collaborator, pianist Misha Mengelberg became the third equal member of ICP, having recently come up with the term "instant composing" to use in "improvising's" stead. It wasn't too long before these groups included either Breuker or Mengelberg but not both, as the two musicians had clashing opinions on what ICP should be. By 1973, the inevitable split came and musicians went with one or the other, resulting in Breuker's still-thriving theatrical and fun-loving Willem Breuker Kollektief, while Mengelberg and Bennink continued with the name ICP, which was, a continuously changing line-up for many years. The ICP Orchestra recorded relatively little, but achieved international acclaim for its sophisticated improvisations, ingenious interpretations of landmark composers such as Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk and for the band members' extraordinary level of musicianship. The Amsterdam-based group is a blend of European improvised music, jazz music and the Dutch irreverent attitude, in general, which all combine into a highly sophisticated yet enjoyable music that has astonished and impressed music lovers for several decades.
