Harald Walkate & The New York Second
“Room For Other People”
Harald Walkate (p)
Teus Nobel (tp, flg)
Marl Alban Lotz (flt)
Tom Beek (ts)
Vincent Venema (tb)
Rob Waring (vib)
Lorenzo Buff (b)
Max Sergeant (d)
- 983 3.Avenue (8:28)
- 1957 (8:44),
- The Collectors Corner (8:47),
- The Class Photograph (4:29),
- Room For Other People (6:39),
- Safety Service Comfort (7:42)
- The White Dress (7:14),
- Location & Date Unknown (7:26),
- View of Ile Saint- Louis (6:11),
- Downstairs For Incoming Train (10:57),
- Room For Other People(Reprise) (00:54)
Dutch pianist Harald Walkate is undoubtedly one of the most notable representatives of the young generation in the European modern jazz scene. Born in 1970, Walkate currently resides in Amsterdam. He began playing the piano in 1980 and started composing in 1990. In 2015, he founded the group The New York Second to bring his compositions to light. With The New York Second—a band whose lineup changed over time—he released the albums *Bay of Poets* (2017), *Emergo* (2020), *Music at Night and Other Stories* (2022), *After the Hours, The Minutes* (2023), and *Room for Other People* (2025). I had previously reviewed the albums *Music at Night* and the trio project *After the Hours, the Minutes* in *Jazz* magazine.
Walkate is a pianist who typically focuses on thematic projects. Her album *Room For Other People* consists of impressions inspired by ten photographs taken by Vivian Maier. She arranged these impressionistic compositions for an octet. The CD booklet also features photographs by Vivian Maier. Listening to the tracks while looking at the photographs makes the experience more meaningful, as it allows us to understand the impressions these images left on Walkate, as well as her creative world and her music.
First impression: on Maier’s photograph “983 Third Avenue.” The second impression is “Florida 1957.” Walkate conveys the emotion this photograph evokes in him through a minimalist flow. We hear solos from Rob Waring on vibraphone, Lorenzo Buffa on bass, Walkate on piano, and Vincent Veneman on trombone.
The third track, “The Collectors Corner,” is based on one of Walkate’s favorite Maier images… It speaks to the innocence of childhood. Standing out for its fluid tempo and strong theme, the track features soloists Tom Beek—who is also a photographer—on tenor saxophone, and Walkate on piano… The ensemble intonation of the trombone, vibraphone, flute, tenor sax, and trumpet is flawless…
In “The Class Photograph,” Vivian Maier’s lens captures the moment high school students are posing for a group photo… Walkate deemed a downtempo style fitting for this piece… A conversation with vibraphonist Rob Waring and a solo by bassist Lorenzo Buffa stand out.
“Room For Other People”—the album’s title track—is a piece that instantly captivates the listener with the wonderfully hazy chords Walkate builds around a self-portrait of Vivian Maier; it is a composition that deeply moved me as well. Trumpeter Nobel, vibraphonist Waring, and Walkate weave through the track with their solos, creating an intricate, lace-like texture.
Here is another of Maier’s black-and-white photographs capturing a fleeting moment. A couple alone together in a horse-drawn carriage. “Safety Service Comfort.” Flautist Mark Alban Lotz is the soloist on the track. And, of course, Walkate with his connective transitions…
“The White Dress” is a photograph—shot from behind—of a woman walking, wearing a white dress and a white fur stole; the setting is Florida at night during the 1950s. Through Walkate’s musical interpretation of this Maier photograph, we can sense the impression of what were perhaps the carefree moments of that era. Featuring Nobel on flugelhorn, Lotz on flute, and Walkate on piano, the piece concludes with a surprise ending.
“Room For Other People” is a ballad titled “Location & Date Unknown.” Walkate composed this piece in response to a black-and-white photograph by Vivian Maier showing a snow-covered railway in Chicago.
Waring on vibraphone, Walkate Kate on piano, Veneman on trombone, and Lotz on flugelhorn are the soloists of this lyrical piece.
“View of Île Saint-Louis” was captured very close to the apartment where Walkate stayed during his year in Paris. Tom Beek conveys this Parisian impression beautifully with the rich tone of his tenor saxophone.
The album’s final impression is inspired by Maier’s photograph, “Downstairs for Incoming Trains”—evoking a train that starts slowly and gradually picks up speed. Waring (vibraphone) and Veneman (trombone) handle the solos.
The album *Room for Other People* concludes with a brief trumpet-and-piano duet based on the title track.
The superb quality of Harald Walkate and The New York Second’s album *Room Other People* comes as no surprise. Post-modern jazz of recent years could not be better reflected…
