Smalltalk Code by Yannick Peeters | GingerBlackGinger

Yannick Peeters | GingerBlackGinger | Tim Berne

Smalltalk Code

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917359725
Catnr: CR 73597
Release date: 27 February 2026
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Label
Challenge Records

UPC
0608917359725

Catalogue number
CR 73597

Release date
27 February 2026

"an intriguing record that harks back to earlier times when this style of jazz was more prominent - a sound that feels familiar and slightly nostalgic to me."

Roostime, 16-2-2026

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

GingerBlackGinger, the daring and authentic project centered around Belgian double bass player Yannick Peeters, has entered a new chapter. They are now joined by American avant-garde alto saxophonist Tim Berne. Their new album, titled 'Smalltalk Code' will be released in February 2026 by Challenge Records (NL).

“Tim is a hero of mine, a great example when it comes to music composition. I didn’t even dare ask him to join at first. This project is going to be unique; I don’t know of many bands with two alto saxophones. I’m excited to see the dynamic form between Tim and Frans Van Isacker. Tim has such a strong personality, he has a great impact on our sound. The fact that Tim and Tom Rainey have played together before, means there was an element of trust there from the beginning.” – Yannick Peeters

GingerBlackGinger is made up of Yannick Peeters (BE) on double bass (Jakob Bro, Frank Vaganée, Chris Joris, Mark Feldman, Jim Black, Joshua Redman, Hank Roberts), Frederik Leroux (BE) on guitar (Flat Earth Society, Ruben Machtelinckx, Joachim Badenhorst, Lander Gyselinck, Steven Delannoye), Frans Van Isacker (BE) on saxophone and clarinet (Tom Malmendier, Quentin Stokart, Ottla, Chantal Acda & The Atlantic Drifters), Tom Rainey (US) on drums (Fred Hersch, Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Halvorson, Mark Helias, Joey Baron, Jim Black) and now Tim Berne (US) on saxophone (Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Hank Roberts, John Zorn, Marc Ducret, Michael Formanek, Craig Taborn). These are personalities with a vision: creative stubborn people who won’t settle for mediocrity; restless spirits who keep looking for new sounds, contexts and like-minded people, and are therefore the ideal partners in crime for Peeters.

In January 2024, the band released their debut album ‘GingerBlackGinger’ This album combines elaborate soundscapes, brief bursts of energy, and mesmerizing grooves. In May of 2025, Yannick Peeters was given carte blanche by Bozar. She took the opportunity to invite her personal musical hero Tim Berne to join the band for the recording of a new album and a live show. The result of this journey into new musical adventures is the album 'Smalltalk Code', to be released in February of 2026 by Challenge Records (NL).

GingerBlackGinger, das wagemutige und authentische Projekt rund um den belgischen Kontrabassisten Yannick Peeters, schlägt ein neues Kapitel auf. Neu dabei ist der amerikanische Avantgarde-Altsaxophonist Tim Berne. Ihr neues Album mit dem Titel „Smalltalk Code“ erscheint im Februar 2026 bei Challenge Records (NL).

„Tim ist ein Held für mich, ein großes Vorbild, wenn es um Komposition geht. Am Anfang habe ich mich nicht einmal getraut, ihn zu fragen, ob er mitmachen möchte. Dieses Projekt wird einzigartig; ich kenne nicht viele Bands mit zwei Altsaxophonen. Ich bin gespannt, welche Dynamik zwischen Tim und Frans Van Isacker entsteht. Tim hat so eine starke Persönlichkeit – er hat einen großen Einfluss auf unseren Sound. Dass Tim und Tom Rainey schon früher zusammen gespielt haben, bedeutete, dass von Anfang an ein Element des Vertrauens da war.“ – Yannick Peeters

GingerBlackGinger besteht aus Yannick Peeters (BE) am Kontrabass (Jakob Bro, Frank Vaganée, Chris Joris, Mark Feldman, Jim Black, Joshua Redman, Hank Roberts), Frederik Leroux (BE) an der Gitarre (Flat Earth Society, Ruben Machtelinckx, Joachim Badenhorst, Lander Gyselinck, Steven Delannoye), Frans Van Isacker (BE) an Saxophon und Klarinette (Tom Malmendier, Quentin Stokart, Ottla, Chantal Acda & The Atlantic Drifters), Tom Rainey (US) am Schlagzeug (Fred Hersch, Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Halvorson, Mark Helias, Joey Baron, Jim Black) und nun Tim Berne (US) am Saxophon (Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Hank Roberts, John Zorn, Marc Ducret, Michael Formanek, Craig Taborn). Das sind Persönlichkeiten mit Vision: kreative Dickköpfe, die sich nicht mit Mittelmaß zufriedengeben; ruhelose Geister, die immer weiter nach neuen Klängen, Kontexten und Gleichgesinnten suchen – und damit die idealen Komplizen für Peeters.

Im Januar 2024 veröffentlichte die Band ihr Debütalbum „GingerBlackGinger“. Dieses Album verbindet ausgearbeitete Klanglandschaften, kurze Energieschübe und hypnotisierende Grooves. Im Mai 2025 erhielt Yannick Peeters von Bozar Carte blanche. Sie nutzte die Gelegenheit, ihren persönlichen musikalischen Helden Tim Berne einzuladen, um für die Aufnahme eines neuen Albums und eine Live-Show zur Band zu stoßen. Das Ergebnis dieser Reise in neue musikalische Abenteuer ist das Album „Smalltalk Code“, das im Februar 2026 bei Challenge Records (NL) erscheint.

Artist(s)

Tim Berne (alto saxophone)

Tim Berne has been declared “a saxophonist and composer of granite conviction” by The New York Times. Acclaim for the first, eponymous ECM album from Berne’s quartet Snakeoil came from far and wide, with The Guardian calling it “an object lesson in balancing composition, improvisation and the tonal resources of an acoustic band.” With the release of his second ECM album, Shadow Man, All About Jazz affirmed Snakeoil as “Berne’s most impressively cohesive group yet.”). You’ve Been Watching Me, saw Berne leading a quintet version of Snakeoil, adding guitarist Ryan Ferreira to the core group with Matt Mitchell, Oscar Noriega and Ches Smith. Since learning at the elbow of St. Louis master Julius Hemphill in the ’70s, the Syracuse, New York-born Berne has built...

Tim Berne has been declared “a saxophonist and composer of granite conviction” by The New York Times. Acclaim for the first, eponymous ECM album from Berne’s quartet Snakeoil came from far and wide, with The Guardian calling it “an object lesson in balancing composition, improvisation and the tonal resources of an acoustic band.” With the release of his second ECM album, Shadow Man, All About Jazz affirmed Snakeoil as “Berne’s most impressively cohesive group yet.”). You’ve Been Watching Me, saw Berne leading a quintet version of Snakeoil, adding guitarist Ryan Ferreira to the core group with Matt Mitchell, Oscar Noriega and Ches Smith.
Since learning at the elbow of St. Louis master Julius Hemphill in the ’70s, the Syracuse, New York-born Berne has built an expansive discography as a leader. In his pace-setting ensembles over the past few decades, he has worked with a who’s who of improvisers, including Joey Baron, Django Bates, Jim Black, Nels Cline. Mark Dresser, Marc Ducret, Michael Formanek, Drew Gress, Ethan Iverson, Dave King, Herb Robertson, Chris Speed, Steve Swell, Bobby Previte, Hank Roberts, Tom Rainey and Craig Taborn. As a sideman, Berne has made ECM appearances on recent albums by Formanek (The Rub and Spare Change; Small Places) and David Torn (prezens). The New York Times summed him up by saying: “Few musicians working in or around jazz over the last 30 years have developed an idiomatic signature more distinctive than Tim Berne.”

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Tom Rainey (drums)

Yannick Peeters (double bass)

Frans van Isacker (alto saxophone)

Frederik Leroux (guitar)

GingerBlackGinger

Composer(s)

Yannick Peeters (double bass)

Press

an intriguing record that harks back to earlier times when this style of jazz was more prominent - a sound that feels familiar and slightly nostalgic to me.
Roostime, 16-2-2026

It is thoughtful and certainly not lazy music that Peeters lets us hear; capricious, darting sounds that reveal a very clear identity. The album closes with a short version of Mothers of the Veil by Ornette Coleman — also someone who absolutely did his own thing and didn’t care what anyone else thought.
JazzNu, 12-2-2026