Bert van den Brink - Mijn piano is een spiegel

Jazz pianist Bert van den Brink (1958) offers a musical view of his rich career, which he illustrates with footage and sound fragments. 'To me, a sound recording is the same as a photo book', says the pianist, blind from birth, in his studio. Van den Brink broke through as a seven-year-old boy, performing in Onder de hoogtezon, a radio show for sick and disabled people. Back then, he had no problems with the combination 'music and handicap'. Later, it did become an issue, as demonstrated by a recent fragment from the TV show De Wereld Draait Door, where Van den Brink states he is 'least bothered by his blindness when playing the keyboard'. Rather than talk about his sightlessness, the much-laurelled pianist - awarded for example the VPRO/Boy Edgar Prize in 2007 - prefers to discuss his ear for music, his relationship with his instrument, and his collaboration with musicians like Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gino Vanelli and Toots Thielemans. And he takes a 'thoughtless walk', which he likes to do in the fields around his house.