• Odd Time Signatures

  • At the age of 17 UB's teacher Jaap Visser told him and his classmates about musicians that played in odd times. He mentioned a pianist that played in 5/8 time easily. That put UB on a track he wanted to explore, Wow!

  • The Dutch Teacher

    Jaap Visscher taught Dutch at a secondary school in Den Haag The Netherlands. Most Dutch people struggle to speak their native language: is it 'hun hebben' or 'ik heeft'. Fortunately Jaap was equipped with outstanding skills to give voice to even the most insecure children. In Holland it is not uncommon to keep young people at school till the age of 18. This school (2e VCL later called Segbroekcollege) even took extra care. And it so happened that UB left school as a full grown man at the age of 20. Not only the language was one of Jaap's concerns, he also delivered his pupils to society with cultural, social & ethical awareness. And last but not least life lessons: He who conquers himself is stronger than he who takes a city. This line finally dawns on me, by the way.

    Anway, I am very thankful to him for contributing to my development in the wonderful, exciting but vulnerable teenage years. The best school teacher I had. Full of excitement I took off with my bicycle and that night I started exploring odd time signatures, starting with 5/8    .

  • UB's Father

    UB's father overheard UB counting from 1 to 10 and all of a sudden he bought UB the Dave Brubeck album - Time Further Out. His father taught UB to play the mouthorgan when he was 11 years old and when he turned 12 his father gave UB a guitar and sent him to guitar lessons. He never took UB anywhere, just those two times without warning. When they went to town together to buy the mouthorgan he treated UB with a piece of cake as well!

  • He truly was a good father. Later in life my father invited his family and friends regularly to fine restaurants. People change and grow over life.

  • UB let himself inspire by this album and listened very closely. His new wave/punk work got scheduled by odd metrics as UB explains in the video.