Ernst Reijseger and Simon Nabatov felt an immediate mutual musical and personal sympathy as they met at the Saalfelden Festival over 15 years ago.

Years later, as Simon Nabatov was forming a new trio, he asked Ernst to join the venture, along with Michael Vatcher, the American drummer residing in Amsterdam. This trio premiered at the SJU Jazz Festival Utrecht, Holland, in April 2003.

The next step in their musical relationship was forming a duo, which since then has acquired an ample repertoire book, consisting of the original compositions, less known, yet seminal, pieces by Misha Mengelberg or Herbie Nichols, among others, and, of course, free improvisations, where their common grounds – wit, fleeting imagination, instrumental technique, knowledge of and love for diverse genres and musical traditions come together to form an exciting amalgam of the delightful and the unexpected.

In 2006 the duo delivered a nearly 90-minute long tour-de-force program based on the music of W.A. Mozart during the Mozart Festival at Concertgebouw Brugge.