Dutch drummer and composer Ruud Voesten continues his ambitious Dante-inspired jazz odyssey with “Raw Beans,” the second single from his forthcoming album Ambrosia II, out November 7 on ZenneZ Records. While the first Ambrosia explored the infernal chaos of Inferno, this sequel turns upward, toward Purgatorio, Dante’s realm of penance and renewal. Each composition represents a terrace of sin being purified through virtue, and “Raw Beans” zooms in on the torment of the gluttonous, the souls surrounded by fruit and water they can never touch. The result is an arresting, cerebral duet between piano and clarinet that captures both the physical ache and the spiritual yearning of that eternal hunger.
From its opening seconds, “Raw Beans” unfolds with an almost monastic patience. The piano begins alone with its deep, deliberate notes falling like drops of time in an empty room. The rhythm feels suspended, fragile, and impossibly controlled, setting the stage for an atmosphere that’s both introspective and uneasy. Then, the clarinet enters, as a voice breathing through the silence. Its tone is long and steady, hovering between lament and meditation, creating the impression of a soul trying to reach upward, stretching through the fog toward redemption.
As the piece develops, the instruments circle each other like two consciousnesses trapped in conversation. The piano’s phrasing turns more insistent, its chords gaining slight weight, while the clarinet weaves between them, sometimes pleading, sometimes resigned. The interplay mirrors Dante’s image of desire punished by distance: sound reaching, almost touching, but always retreating. The tension never truly resolves, and that’s the brilliance of it, Voesten offers only reflection.
“Raw Beans” is minimalist yet emotionally immense. This modern jazz meditation writhes with longing and restraint while exploring the silence, space, and subtlety.
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Review by: Naomi Joan