Bassist and Composer Chris van Voorst van Beest Combines Jazz and Classical Fluency in New Album Bye Design

"An impressive composer with a fresh approach, integrating improvised music with through-composed chamber music." – David del Tredici

“...a double bassist with an exceptional ability to improvise." – Erminio Garotta (Sound & Vision)

Adhyâropa Records is thrilled to announce Bye Design (ÂR00181), the new album by bassist and composer Chris van Voorst van Beest. Featuring contributions from rising stars of the New York progressive jazz scene Zach Lapidus (piano) and Nathan Ellman-Bell (drums), Bye Design is an encapsulation of van Voorst van Beest’s dual fascination with jazz improvisation and classical harmonic language and forms, expressed through his exquisite compositional voice and the ultra-responsive interplay between the masterful trio.

Originally hailing from Maine, van Voorst van Beest is now based in New York and has emerged as a unique voice within New York's jazz and improvised music community. He has performed and/or recorded with artists as diverse as Frank Kimbrough, Robert Glasper, Gabriel Kahane, and Joe Lovano, and plays bass in a variety of projects and ensembles,  including Garage Ellington and the Danny Fox Trio (a long-time member, see his virtuosic contributions on Fox’s Time Took Care Of It, ÂR00024).

But it is van Voorst van Beest’s work as a composer that truly distinguishes him. He is a three-time nominee for the Charles Ives Arts and Letters Award, and has composed incidental music for dance (Kelly Ashton Todd’s Nest) and documentary film (Listening to the Land) in addition to his prolific work in both jazz and classical genres. A student of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David del Tredici, van Voorst van Beest’s music is as steeped in the classical tradition as it is in jazz, though he displays the same flair for the transgressive as his mentor, as evidenced by the first notes of the record, the fugue that opens ‘DDT’ and leads seamlessly into Lapidus and van Voorst van Beest’s flowing solos, supported with great sensitivity by Ellman-Bell. The interplay within the trio during the improvised sections is notably as intricate and contrapuntal as the written sections; a first listener would hardly know where one left off and the other began. 

“I was influenced a lot by David, especially in terms of how to build structure in a piece of music. He really opened my ears to composition as an art form,” van Voorst van Beest says. “He was so colorful and loved unexpected contrasts, for example in his Alice In Wonderland pieces, in which a classical ensemble is juxtaposed with a folk band and the two are playing either simultaneously or even at odds with one another throughout.”

“I wrote a wind quintet years ago, and I loved the music but it was impractical to record it, much less to perform it with any regularity. But I also loved writing this music and feel it is part of my identity as a musician, so I wanted to include it in this project. A section of that quintet became the track ‘Interludio,’ which bridges two adjoining tracks that are much more improvisational, ‘The Long Line’ and ‘Pastiche.’”

That three-track passage, which forms a centerpiece suite of sorts, is a perfect encapsulation of the musical synthesis that van Voorst van Beest and his collaborators have created. ‘The Long Line’ unfurls in a cascading series of phrases, each beginning as a unison before spiraling into freely improvised conversations. “Each phrase has a built-in accelerando and as it goes on it moves through the different keys, but from a wide angle it’s just a ‘long line’ that never stops. The title is a play on Aaron Copland's philosophy of following the longer line of a form rather than its component parts as a way to really understand a piece of music.”

‘Interludio’ itself features Lapidus on toy piano, the harmonic complexity of the brief composition belied by the charming instrumentation. ‘Pastiche,’ which follows, was by van Voorst van Beest’s estimation the most difficult on the album to perform. “It’s in a flowing ⅝ with a strong melody, but the way the harmony moves is not what I’m accustomed to in jazz forms. It’s pulling more from 20th-21st century classical music so improvising over it is really a slalom course.”  Lapidus’ solo navigates the form with ease and sophistication; by the time his feet are fully under him and he begins to explore the range of the instrument in double-time, any angularity of the song structure is fully ingrained in the listener as well. Lapidus hands the reins to van Voorst van Beest for his own solo before returning to restate the gorgeous melody. And while the uninterrupted “long line” of the trio’s interplay may naturally recall famous trios led by Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, listeners will also recognize a fellowship with modern groups who’ve brought a fresh perspective to the medium, such as the Bad Plus or Jason Moran’s Bandwagon.

"Often, when I hear attempts to blend classical form and harmony into a jazz setting, it can feel derivative and unconvincing, so to me this is fertile ground," van Voorst van Beest says. “In making this record, I'm trying to find a way to do this with my own acoustic trio. Nothing feels inorganic, because I know the incredible sensitivity and intuition these musicians play with.”

“Recently, I've become more influenced by bassists who have led their own groups, such as Charles Mingus and more contemporary artists like Eivind Opsvik – I glean so much about leading an ensemble from them. You are what you eat, so to speak, and the goal is to have the things you love come out sounding like you. In the context of this trio I think we’re developing a language that’s all our own. It's such a gift to have an ensemble that focuses on your unique music. To be able to use this vocabulary so fluently amongst each other is an opportunity that very few composers really have.”

Artist: Chris van Voorst van Beest

Album Title: Bye Design

Label: Adhyâropa Records

Release Date: May 19, 2026 (single: ‘DDT’); June 1, 2026 (single: ‘Pastiche’); June 19, 2026 (album: Bye Design)

Purchase: https://chrisvanvoorstvanbeest.bandcamp.com/album/bye-design

Performers: Chris van Voorst van Beest (bass); Zach Lapidus (piano); Nathan Ellman-Bell (drums)