Alto saxophonist Benjamin Herman is unstoppable. After his album Campert was awarded an Edison (Dutch Grammy Award) he recently produced yet another fantastic CD: Hypochristmastreefuzz. This time the source of inspiration for the album was the work of the avant-garde veteran pianist/composer Misha Mengelberg. In 2000,Herman (1968) also recorded a live album of pieces of this avant-garde musician. The wonderful thing about this project is -this time recorded live - its great variation. Herman and his ensemble sometimes play virtually free pieces, but you can on occasion hear a bit of kwela music or a very sentimental track. But the most important component is the playing of Benjamin Herman himself. Slowly, it is beginning to take on a majestic form, regardless of whether he is playing with the New Cool Collective(check out the recent DVD Live in Luxor with Jules Deelder!) or with the line-up of Hypochristmastreefuzz, with whom he will be performing at the festival.