raul midon è un grande.. e ha capito molto della vita.. e dal vivo è ancora meglio..

in questi giorni in cui tutti stanno partendo per andare a fare vacanze da qualche altra parte, rotterdam si sta svegliando con eventi organizzati praticamente ogni sera.. il più importante di tutti è stato il north sea jazz festival, in cui tanti tra grandi personalità di musica jazz, soul, ecc hanno preparato performance davvero emozionanti..

i concerti veri e proprio erano in teatri a pagamento (AHOY Rotterdam), ma la città ne ha invitati alcuni, qualche sera fa, ad un concerto all’aperto (con piogerellina infame inclusa).. http://www.northseajazz.com/ dava un’idea di tutti i concerti di quest’anno e ci sarà presto il programma dell’anno prossimo..

ultime notizie: rotterdam è capitale della gioventù 2009 (youth capital), il che presenta una grande opportunità per riempire le piazze di persone.. proprio due sere fa, infatti, si è tenuta l’annuale pattinata per le strade della città con musica, percorsi e naturalmente birra..

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. A few updates for you all.

Just returned from 3 great shows for our artist JazzKamikaze. The first two shows were at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. The first night the band performed a straight Jazz set at an outdoor stage. As usual they had the crowd jumping out of their seats and dancing by the second set. The second night was at a large indoor venue in the Christiana section of Copenhagen. At this gig they unveiled their new material and direction to many new and diehard old fans. The venue was packed and dancing to material from their upcoming release Supersonic Revolutions. The new album is slated to be released in September. We are putting the finishing touches on the distribution deal as we speak. In the meantime we have released a new EP named The Revolution is in your Hands. This first single on this EP, The Revolution is in your Hands, is a collaboration between JazzKamikaze and the popular Danish band A Kid Hearafter. The EP will be available on ITunes very shortly.

After the successful shows in Copenhagen we were off to the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rottedam, Netherlands. Here the JazzKamkaze’s shared the limelight with such performers as Erika Badu, Seal, George Benson, and many others. It is The biggest Jazz Festival in the world. The venue was packed and the boys kicked it as usual. Needless to say we are looking forward to a long and successful career for the band. They truly are experts on their instruments and a pleasure to watch and listen too.

As far as our other engineers and studio work, here is a brief run through of some other happenings. Richard King and Steve Epstein have been busy with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell and other projects. Todd Whitelock has been working on some of the above and with artist Eldar, and a project with composer Marcelo Zarvos. Jason Goldstein has been busy with The Roots, Josiah Gluck has worked with Curtis Steiger, and Kenny Lloyd did some work with Mya and upcoming artist Kristiana DeBarge. Usher was also in the house as was Afrika Bambatta!

Below is a link to a review of the album recently mixed at SevenSeas Studios by Producer Steve Epstein and engineer Richard King. The session was assisted by our own Drea Young.

http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/doctor-atomic-symphony

SevenSeas is also proud to announce the addition of engineer Robert Smith. Rob is a very experienced tracking and mix engineer. He started his career at Green Street Recording Studios, and did stints at various other facilities. He has done everything from Hip Hop to Rock, and advertising to movie scores. The documentary “The Devil Came On Horseback” just recently was nominated for two Emmy Awards. Rob recorded and mixed this score for composer Paul Brill. We welcome Rob to SevenSeas.

http://www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com/

After an amazing few days, packing in a gig with Sir John Dankworth, (who, by the way, donated £400 of his fee to the band’s tour fund – thank you!) Mark Nightingale and Simon Hale, end-of-term performances and commitments, a Duke of Edinburgh expedition, a school trip and many other things besides, the band held a final rehearsal on Friday night before gathering in the Aylesbury Music Centre car park at 7am Saturday morning.

First stop, the National Youth Music Festival in Birmingham, playing first up before many of the other young jazz musicians and ensembles had arrived in the city, let alone the venue. Normally this is a great opportunity to see and hear youngsters of a similar age giving it their best shot, but this year Aylesbury Big Band had just enough time to unpack their instruments, play their three pieces, change into comfortable travelling clothes, get back on the bus and head for Harwich and the Hook of Holland.

The performance was high-energy and full-on. Did the adjudicators notice Ben Treacher’s mishap with his soprano sax? He removed his mouthpiece along with his cover as he stood up to play. Thinking quickly and running on adrenalin, he transposed his solo and made up an alternative on his tenor as he went along – a real pro response. Only Nick Care’s music fluttering to the floor gave any hint to the audience all was not as it should be…

Is the band excited about the week to come? Watch this space…

Ticket | North Sea Jazz

Zaterdag 11 juli 2009. Op naar het North Sea Jazz festival in Rotterdam. Er zijn van die dingen in je leven die je gewoon een keer moet mee maken. Het North Sea Jazz Festival is er voor mij zo een van. Normaliter ben ik geen liefhebber van Jazz. Ik associeer het teveel met Pim Jacobs en Rita Reijs. Hoe het mij bevallen is lees je verder op.

De molens van Kinderdijk

Molen dichtheid | Kinderdijk

Voor dat ik in Rotterdam ben, heb ik eerst de molens van Kinderdijk bezocht. Dit is ook zo’n typisch Nederlandse plaats waar je minstens een keer in je leven moet zijn geweest. Kinderdijk is de plaats waar de ‘molen dichtheid’ enorm is. Helaas ontbrak mij de tijd om naar de molens toe te lopen. De foto’s geven een goed beeld van wat ik bedoel met ‘molen dichtheid’. Aangezien ik alleen tijd had voor een oppervlakkige kennismaking met de molens is deze plek zeker nog goed voor een bezoek van mijn kant.

Klik hier voor de foto’s van Kinderdijk

Het North Sea Jazz Festival

Candy Dulfer & Friends

Tja het was alles wat ik mij dus niet van Jazz had voorgesteld. Ja in de kleine zaaltjes van het enorme Ahoy complex kwam je de echte ‘hardcore’ jazz tegen. Op de grote podia (bijna) helemaal niet (of ik moet een totaal verkeerd beeld van jazz hebben). Ik heb optredens bezocht van o.a. James Taylor, Wouter Hamel, SMV, Erykah Badu, George Duke & Rachelle Ferrell en tenslotte van Candy Dulfer & Friends. Met name Candy Dulfer was voor mij hét optreden van de dag, avond en nacht (het programma eindigde dik na 02.00 uur). Dit was echt zinderend, kicken, chillen, uit je dak gaan, puur emotie,  kortom adembenemend. Samen met Trijntje Oosterhuis werd het optreden afgesloten met een spetterende tribute aan Michael Jackson.

Fotograferen tijdens het North Sea Jazz Festival

Helaas mocht ik mijn spiegelreflex camera niet mee naar binnen nemen. Dus alle foto’s zijn gemaakt met mijn pocket camera. De kwaliteit is helaas niet zo geweldig. Wel stelde deze camera mij in staat om video opnames te maken. Op YouTube vind je dan ook een filmpje van het optreden van Candy Dulfer & Friends.

Dat je niet ongestraft een spiegelreflex mee naar binnen kunt nemen heeft een fotograaf met een joekel van een telelens aan den lijve ondervonden. Hij werd zonder pardon uit de zaal verwijderd.

Klik hier voor mijn foto’s van het North Sea Jazz Festival.

Video Candy Dulfer & Friends

Bhaskara dibentuk dengan nama Bhaskara 85. Kolektif ini tampil perdana di Taman Ismail Marzuki, 2-3 Juli 1985.

Formasi awal:  Kiboud Maulana (gitar), Udin Zach (saksofon), Bambang Nugroho dan Didi Hadju (keyboard), Karim Suweileh (drum), Perry Pattiselano (bass), Luluk Purwanto (violin, vokal), Dullah Suweileh (perkusi), dan Nunung Wardiman (vokal) .

Bhaskara 85 partisipasi di North Sea Jazz Festival 1985. Di bawah tanggung jawab Peter F.Gontha dari PT. Bhaskara Music Production, Bhaskara 85 tercatat sebagai grup Indonesia pertama yang tampil arena bergengsi itu.

Bhaskara tampil di NSJF 1986.  namun formasi mengalami sedikit perubahan. Posisi Kiboud, Perry dan Nunung digantikan oleh Joko WH, Mates, dan Vonny Sumlang. Bhaskara 86 mendapat panggung yang lebih luas dari pada tahun sebelumnya. Luluk kembali menjadi primadona pementasan mereka.Komposisi yang mereka bawakan disebutkan telah mempunyai warna kepribadian yang khas dan kelihatan unsur Indonesia-nya.

Di luar dugaan, album itu sukses dan konon terjual hingga 75,000 kaset. Sebuah angka yang sangat sulit dicapai oleh rekaman jazz musisi Indonesia. Lagu-lagu di album tersebut sangat populer, khususnya lagu-lagu seperti Betawi, Putri, One Lonely Flute.

Lagu Putri yang populer merupakan ciptaan dari Yanti R., yang sebenarnya merupakan kependekan dari Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Mbak Tutut). Lagu ini direkam kembali pada album Bhaskara 91 dalam versi vokal. Lagu Life Is Too Short To Worry dengan vokal dari Vonny Sumlang saat ini terdapat dalam format CD, yaitu  di dalam album kompilasi Best of Jazzy Vocals.

Sukses album pertama Bhaskara 86 di ranah industri musik Indonesia dilanjutkan dengan rilis volume keduanya di tahun 1987. Album yang berjudul Lady Bird ini  kembali diproduseri oleh Bhaskara Music Production (Bhamution), namun distribusinya menggunakan label rekaman lain yaitu Bulletin Record (tidak lagi oleh Aquarius Ind.).

Hasil penjualannya biasa saja dan tidak sesukses album pertama. Lagu Bayang-bayang dari album ini menjadi salah satu lagu dalam kompilasi Indonesian Jazzy Vocals Too. Uniknya, justru lagu “Bayang Bayang” adalah lagu yang tidak disertakan di rilis ulang album tersebut di tahun 1988. Rilis ulang album Lady Bird meniadakan “Bayang Bayang” dan “Kaki Lima”,  dan menyertakan satu track baru karya Mates, “Ease My Pain”. Di seri kedua ini juga Peter F.Gontha menyumbangkan sebuah karyanya, “Sunday 14^th”, untuk dimainkan oleh Bhaskara.

]]> http://7seasmediamanagement.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/jazzkamikaze-playing-the-north-sea-jazz-festival/ Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:52:24 +0000 7seasmediamanagement http://7seasmediamanagement.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/jazzkamikaze-playing-the-north-sea-jazz-festival/

We are happy to announce that the fellas are playing the infamous North Sea Jazz Festival this coming July 11th. This performance will be in conjunction with the release of their new Single which will include a track cowritten and co-perfomed by the band A Kid Hearafter. Please join us in congratulating the boys and show your support by logging into the website and buying some tracks.
http://www.sonicbids.com/JazzKamikaze
http://www.7seasmusic.com

The Aylesbury Music Centre Big Band are THE ONLY school aged band in the world to be invited to play at the world’s largest Jazz Festival. – The North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands. Other Artists include: Jamie Cullum, Duffy, Herbie Hancock & Lang Lang, B.B. King, James Taylor, & of course… the AMC BIG Band!!

Click on our website for further details – hope to see you there! AMC Big Band

Bilal “You’re All I Need To Get By/Purple Haze (Live)” [Download]

Master of the stage Bilal mashes together classic Motown and classic Hendrix with rock and funk overtones to deliver a monster performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival back in 2002. This one is a monster, for sure.

Duffy, Herbie Hancock & Lang Lang, B.B. King, James Taylor en Jamie Cullum zullen het podium beklimmen tijdens het North Sea Jazz Festival. Het festijn vindt plaats van vrijdag 10 tot en met zondag 12 juli.

Bersama Magma Project, Syaharani berjanji akan memanaskan SIEM dengan membawakan World Music Electronicnya. Bahkan, khusus untuk penampilan di SIEM 31 Oktober 2008 nanti nanti, ia kini sedang berlatih keras “Sekarang saya kembali berlatih membiasakan feel dan teknik vocal  untuk dapat mempersembahkan warna Magma Project yang powerfull dengan cengkok-cengkok yang khas, SIEM bakal panas deh” ujar penyanyi yang pernah mewakili Indonesia dalam North Sea Jazz Festival 2001 ini.  

Dalam penampilannya nanti, selain mempersembahkan lagu-lagu aransemen ulang dari album Wordl Music Electronic, Syaharani dan Magma Project akan  membawakan satu lagu bersama seorang sinden. “Judulnya Sunya Ruri, ini menjadi lagu favorit saya karena ada kolaborasi yang menarik,” jelas penyanyi berdarah Bone, Sulawesi Selatan yang akrab dipanggil Rani ini.

Hingga 2006 telah merilis 3 solo album jazzy dan satu pop trip-hop (Magma). Ia juga memproduseri album Magma dan Buat Kamu (SQf), menjadi song writer, serta vocal arranger.

Penyanyi bernama lengkap Saira Syaharani Ibrahim kelahiran Batu, Jawa Timur tahun 1971 ini juga pernah menjadi bintang tamu dalam Al Jarreau, Iskandarsyah Siregar & Folks, Dave Koz, Keith Martin dan Yellow Jackets Indonesia concert bersama Fourplay.

Tak hanya menyanyi, Rani juga menjadi aktris dalam teater musikal Madame Dasima, Gallery of Kisses di TIM Jakarta, film Garasi produksi Miles Film, serta membuat theme song dan vocal illustrator film “Betina” produksi 9 Palm Films (pemenang NETPAC Award Festival Film Asia 2006).

Di penghujung tahum 1998, Rani bergabung bersama Bubi Chen, Benny Likumahua, Sutrisno, Cendy Luntungan, dan Oele Pattiselano mengeluarkan album jazz What a Wonderful World.

Album solo jazz pertama Rani bertajuk Love (1999). Rani kemudian merambah ladang musik psikedelik lewat album Magma (2002) untuk memaksimalkan kualitas vokalnya. Album ini berisi 11 lagu yang bernuansa Jazz, fusion, ethnic, dan trip hop yang nge-blend jadi satu sehingga menghasilkan apa yang Rani sebut sebagai psychedelic.

 “Saya berharap SIEM menjadi belajar dan meningkatkan daya apresiasi masyarakat, sekjaligus mencerminkan perkembangan dan menjadi bagian dari konservasi budaya,” ujar Rani. Ia juga berharap SIEM menjadi festival yang menempatkan prestise bangsa Indonesia dalam pergaulan dunia. “Itu semua bisa dilakukan bila SIEM dikelola dengan baik,” pesannya mengakhiri perbincangan. (harnug)

Bersama Magma Project, Syaharani berjanji akan memanaskan Solo International Ethnic Music Festival 2008 dengan membawakan World Music Electronicnya. Bahkan, khusus untuk penampilan di SIEM 31 Oktober 2008 nanti, ia kini sedang berlatih keras “Sekarang saya kembali berlatih membiasakan feel dan teknik vocal  untuk dapat mempersembahkan warna Magma Project yang powerfull dengan cengkok-cengkok yang khas, SIEM bakal panas deh” ujar penyanyi yang pernah mewakili Indonesia dalam North Sea Jazz Festival 2001 ini.  

Dalam penampilannya nanti, selain mempersembahkan lagu-lagu aransemen ulang dari album Wordl Music Electronic, Syaharani dan Magma Project akan  membawakan satu lagu bersama seorang sinden. “Judulnya Sunya Ruri, ini menjadi lagu favorit saya karena ada kolaborasi yang menarik,” jelas penyanyi berdarah Bone, Sulawesi Selatan yang akrab dipanggil Rani ini.

Hingga 2006 telah merilis 3 solo album jazzy dan satu pop trip-hop (Magma). Ia juga memproduseri album Magma dan Buat Kamu (SQf), menjadi song writer, serta vocal arranger.

Penyanyi bernama lengkap Saira Syaharani Ibrahim kelahiran Batu, Jawa Timur tahun 1971 ini juga pernah menjadi bintang tamu dalam Al Jarreau, Iskandarsyah Siregar & Folks, Dave Koz, Keith Martin dan Yellow Jackets Indonesia concert bersama Fourplay.

Tak hanya menyanyi, Rani juga menjadi aktris dalam teater musikal Madame Dasima, Gallery of Kisses di TIM Jakarta, film Garasi produksi Miles Film, serta membuat theme song dan vocal illustrator film “Betina” produksi 9 Palm Films (pemenang NETPAC Award Festival Film Asia 2006).

Di penghujung tahum 1998, Rani bergabung bersama Bubi Chen, Benny Likumahua, Sutrisno, Cendy Luntungan, dan Oele Pattiselano mengeluarkan album jazz What a Wonderful World.

Album solo jazz pertama Rani bertajuk Love (1999). Rani kemudian merambah ladang musik psikedelik lewat album Magma (2002) untuk memaksimalkan kualitas vokalnya. Album ini berisi 11 lagu yang bernuansa Jazz, fusion, ethnic, dan trip hop yang nge-blend  jadi satu sehingga menghasilkan apa yang Rani sebut sebagai psychedelic.

 “Saya berharap SIEM menjadi ajang pembelajaran dan meningkatkan daya apresiasi masyarakat, sekaligus mencerminkan perkembangan dan menjadi bagian dari konservasi budaya,” ujar Rani. Ia juga berharap SIEM menjadi festival yang menempatkan prestise bangsa Indonesia dalam pergaulan dunia. “Itu semua bisa dilakukan bila SIEM dikelola dengan baik,” pesannya mengakhiri perbincangan. (harnug)

On the third and final day, Me and Danny were exhausted. We eventually woke up at 14:00, ate “breakfast” at Subway, and headed right over to the Ahoy Concert Venue.

At 16:00, we saw a condensed Preservation Hall Jazz Band, featuring: Clint Maedgen (vocals, tenor sax); Mark Braud (vocals, trumpet); Walter Payton (vocals, bass); Elliott “Stackman” Callier (sax); Freddie Lonzo (trombone); Ben Jaffe (tuba); Rickie Monie (piano); Shannon Powell (drums).

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

These guys embody the origins of jazz history. They play traditional early “N’awlins” jazz with authentic stop time, street beats, and collective improvisation to boot. This band is like an ancient relic recently awoken from cryogenic freezing… or “Preservation,” (I realize I’m not funny but it entertains me). Most of the other concert-goers were as ancient as band. The Preservation Hall Band was interesting to view as a historical artifact, but our desires for modern jazz overtook our willingness to tolerate a history lesson and we bolted early.

At 17:30, we left the Preservation concert to see Phil Woods and Friends: Phil Woods, Jesse Davis (alto sax); Donald Vega (piano); Daryll Hall (double bass); Leon Parker (drums). Very crisp and flawlessly executed Bruce Diehl jazz (in reference to our college jazz coach who idolizes Phil Woods’ playing).

At 19:00, we switched venues to see the Brad Mehldau Trio: Brad Mehldau (piano); Larry Grenadier (double bass); Jeff Ballard (drums) boo…Bring back Jorge Rossi on traps. Not the band at their best, to say the least. Mehldau has been Danny’s favorite pianist for quite some time, but we both left the concert feeling quite underwhelmed. Jeff Ballard is atrocious. I don’t know how he plays with all of the phenomenal musicians who hire him. At one point during the concert, Ballard got up from the drums and hit his head on the boom microphone above him, making a loud thump. What an idiot. Plus, when he was in Amherst playing with Miguel Zenon and Matt Penman (great musicians), some of the UMASS jazz guys told Danny that after the show Ballard asked them if they could get him high, which they graciously did…Just a funny anecdote… But seriously, this band did not concern itself with dynamics or interesting arrangements. They only relied on Mehldau’s amazing touch and great (but sparse) lines to breath a bit of life into the music. They also only played songs off their new album which isn’t that great, and didn’t play the two cool ones, both 90s alt rock covers, “Wonderwall” by Oasis and “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden. Here’s a video of the Brad Mehldau trio (with Jorge Rossi) when they sounded good, performing a cover of “Exit Music (For a Film),” written by Radiohead.

Thereafter, at 20:30, we saw the Antonio Sanchez Group, featuring Miguel Zenon (alto sax); David Sanchez (tenor sax); Scott Colley (double bass); and Antonio Sanchez (drums). All the music they played was written by A. Sanchez, and despite the perception about drummers not having the harmonic background to compose tunes well, dude has keyboard and songwriting chops and came up with some really interesting and drummer-friendly arrangements, proving the naysayers wrong.

To end the festival, at 23:00, we saw a group that Danny and Zlatan were surprised I had never heard of, a suprisingly good 80s jazz/world fusion band called Oregon. The band featured Paul McCandless (winds, every different kind of horn imaginable); Ralph Towner (piano, keyboards, synths and guitar); Glen Moore (bass, including upright electric…that’s one instrument); and Mark Walker (drums and a million different percussion chotchkies). Solid performance to cap off a good day and phenomenal festival.

Oregon

Today we started with the Kenny Werner Lawn chair Society at 17:30 (I’m officially on the 24 hour clock now), featuring David Sanchez (tenor sax); Randy Brecker (trumpet); Kenny Werner (piano); Scott Colley (bass); and the great Brian Blade (drums). Kenny Werner is a technical phenom and was great to see him live with such a great band.

Kenny Werner Lawnchair Society sans Brian Blade.

They played Werner’s music exclusively and he had some really nice charts. This also was the first time I’ve seen one of my heroes, Brian Blade, live, who was incredibly tasteful and really added to the music. Incidentally, despite not ever seeing Brian Blade live before, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t Ari Hoenig, who usually plays in Kenny Werner’s group, and who is my favorite drummer at the moment.

I was lucky enough to have seen Ari perform around 5 or 6 weeks ago at Smalls Jazz Club in Harlem, playing an incredible set with his partner-in-crime, the exciting French pianist, Jean Michel Pilc. I’ll take this opportunity to talk a bit about that Jean Michel Pilc Trio concert, as it was one of the most enjoyable jazz performances I’ve ever witnessed and want to document it. Forgive my self-indulgence, but this is blogging, and self-indulgence is the name of the game! I’ll preface this by saying that, to my ears, the Hoenig Pilc Project is one of the most creative and inventive jazz collaborations in existence, and I recommend their music to anyone interested in hearing cutting edge modern jazz. Check out the youtube video below and you’ll hear what I’m talking about, I hope.

After spending the day in NYC hanging with my former college bandmates YP and Jake, we met up with some other college/jazz buddies: Dave, Jack, and Austin and headed over to the club. We got there late into the set of the opening band and watched the last ten minutes or so of their set. After they finished, we walked outside to get some air. Outside of the club, the bouncer who we’d been chatting with told us that Ari was standing on the corner, ostensibly talking over the set list with J.M. Pilc on his cell phone. After feeling star-struck by a guy who walks around the street and is rarely recognized outside of the relatively small jazz community, YP and I waited for him to get off the phone and then went over to chat. I approached him by asking if he has a minute to speak with a fellow drummer from his rival high school, as he went to Germantown Friends and I went to Friends’ Central. After that, I told him how much his music means to me and then YP asked him if he takes requests. At first hesitantly, he responded “well, what did you have in mind.” We then told him that our band transcribed and performed his composition, the title track from his album “The Painter” last semester, and he told us he would see what he could do. We parted ways telling him we were looking forward to the concert.

Once the show was about to begin, Ari got up from his throne, walked over to Jean Michel, and said to him, “The Painter, first alright?” Thereafter, they played a highly energized rendition of the tune, similar to this version with Matt Penman on bass (an amazing player who I will talk more about later). This is part one of the three part youtube video (it’s worth watching the whole thing as this quartet has great chemistry.) The whole concert was just amazing and I can’t wait to hear this band again!

Sorry about the detour, back to where I left off. After Kenny Warner’s Lawnchair Society band, at 19:30, we saw another wizard on the keyboard, Michel Camilo, playing with a trio: Michel Camilo (piano); Charles Flores (bass); Dafnis Prieto (drums). This concert was some of the most intense and burning jazz I’ve ever seen. Michel was so forceful that during the show he even broke his piano bench and had to sit on a stool for the remainder of the set. To get a taste of Michel Camilo’s playing, check out this video of him performing Calle 54 with probably the best Latin Jazz drumset player in the world (whom we also saw perform at the festival, but not together unfortunately), Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez.

Before Michel Camilo’s set began, a guy randomly flagged us down to save the seat next to us for him as the place was filling up quickly. While he was walking over, another guy came up asking for the seat and we told him that it was taken. It turns out that the guy who we reserved the seat for was one of the chief designers of the Ahoy venue for the Festival, a Dutch guy named Hans. We chatted with him before the show.

It happened that the concert had great personal significance to Hans. He told us a story of how his mother used to take him to the North Sea Jazz Festival every year when he was younger, and that a few years ago when his mother was sick in the hospital and unable to attend the festival, he went without her and saw Michel Camilo perform. While the band was playing, he called his mom and held up the phone for over ten minutes so that she could share the festival with him one more time. She passed away a few days later. By the time he finished telling us the story, Hans was near tears. As a result of us accidentally saving him a great seat in the fifth row and center of the venue, Hans told us he felt indebted to us and that he wanted to return the favor. After the great concert, he said he would try to get us tickets to the VIP performers’ jam session at the hotel where all the musicians were staying, the Hilton Rotterdam.

Me and Danny hangin with Hans after the music had ended on Saturday Night.He bought both of us a beer and gave us the tickets at the end of the night. More on the jam session in a bit.

Thereafter, at 21:00, we saw the Randal Corsen Quintet (piano); Roy Hargrove (trumpet); Scott Colley (bass); Horacio “El Negro” Hernández (drums); Pernell Saturnino (percussion), a solid concert, but one that I won’t say more about.

Then, at 22:00, we left Hudson to go to a smaller stage and caught the tail end of the Christian McBride clinic. At the very end, when the legendary bassist was fielding questions, Danny raised his hand, and, noticing his bright orange shirt, McBride said, “I’m gonna take a question from my man in the striped shirt” – the infamous orange American eagle shirt in the photo to the right. Danny asked what he does harmonically when the soloist strays from the form. He responded that it is really a case-by-case determination; when he plays with someone like Joshua Redman, he explained, he strictly follows the form because that’s what Redman wants, but other times he will try to follow the soloist. Good question, Danny. After the talk, we approached McBride and he asked us if we were in the band that played before him based on our red Mafkees hostel wristbands (which looked like the performers’ wristbands). We should have lied. We also meant to ask him about the “bad night” he had six months ago that he mentioned at his concert at UMASS Amherst, but didn’t get around to that either.

At 23:00, we saw what was, in my opinion, the best concert of the festival (even though it was at a relatively smaller stage.) It was Joris Roelofs (clarinet, alto sax); Aaron Goldberg (piano); Matt Penman (bass); and Eric Harland (drums).

from left Aaron Goldberg, Matt Penman, Eric Harland, and some random Dutch sax player named Roeloffs.

Aaron Goldberg, Eric Harland, and Matt Penman are some of the best modern players on the scene. They were forced to play with a guy Eric Harland described to us as “some dude,” a dutch saxophonist who didn’t fit in with the band. Killer concert anyway. After the concert, we hung with Matt and Eric backstage. I told Eric: “I’ve seen you play 4 or 5 times now and every time I’ve been blown away by you.” We also had a brief exchange with Aaron Goldberg who is a great dude who is kinda dorky, but very down to earth considering his success. He is an amazing pianist and was very nice to us.

Also, we talked to Matt Penman for a long time and even got someone to take a picture of us with him. He’s a total bro. We asked him where he’s going after this, and he said he was off to Prague and then Nice. He  also asked us where we were going from the festival. When we mentioned Marseilles, he told us to come see him play with the San Fransisco Jazz Collective (an all star group, with the likes of Miguel Zenon, Joe Lovano, and Eric Harland) in Nice at the Jazz festival that was about to happen there. He also told us to be sure to drink the local wine in Marseilles (we took him up on that). Unfortunately,our prior arrangements made it impossible to get to the Nice Jazz Festival, as we had a non-refundable flight scheduled to Dublin two days before the Nice festival started (otherwise we totally would have done it).

By this point, our heads were spinning, as, in the period of two hours we had talked to several of our idols and, undoubtedly some of the best jazz musicians on the scene, Christian McBride, Eric Harland, Aaron Goldberg, Matt Penman. But that’s not all…

Me and Danny with Matt Penman after his performance with Eric Harland and Aaron Goldberg.

At 2am we attended the VIP North Sea Jam Session at the Hilton Hotel and stayed out until 5am and walked back to the hostel as the sun was rising (yet another romantic moment, Danny).

At the jam, we saw such celebrity musicians as Horatio “El Negro” Hernandez, Matt Penman (who left right as we entered, a big shame as we had talked with him earlier and had hoped to touch based with him again, left), and Aaron Goldberg. We watched Aaron Goldberg jam and hit on some women at the Jam Session and, once he was done with that, we exchanged a few words. Danny worked up the courage to try to sit in, but too many vocalists ruined this possibility (friggin’ vocalists! I kid, I kid:). Still, it was an awesome experience and capped off an epic, inspiring, and overwhelming day of music.

By the time we went back to the hostel, we decided that we might as well stay up and eat the free breakfast that started at 7am before going to sleep. When we woke up at 14:00, we ate lunch and then directly headed off to see to go see another 8 hours of jazz, as the festival ran from approximately 16:00 to midnight each of the three days.

After Spain, Danny and me split off from Dre for a few days (while he frantically tried to finish his finals for his courses that he had been neglecting for five weeks) and headed to Rotterdam, Netherlands to spend three days at the North Sea Jazz Festival, the largest indoor jazz festival in the world. Over thirty thousand people fed into the huge Ahoy concert venue each of the three days, and it was unlike any music festival I’ve ever been to. An amazing experience.

Where's Danny? At the massive Ahoy Concert Venue

During our stay in Rotterdam, we lived at a huge, packed hostel called Mafkees, right next to Rotterdam central station. The giant, dilapidated building had fifty person rooms, cost ten euros a night plus free breakfast of coffee, tea, bread, pb, and jam. Each morning, we loaded up on sandwiches (incidentally one day we woke up for breakfast at 9, quickly ate three peanut butter sandwiches and fell back asleep until 2 in the afternoon). Mafkees proved to be a surprisingly pleasant and safe hostel considering the enormous dorm rooms and lack of aesthetic appeal. Most of the people staying there were also going to the North Sea Jazz Festival and we made quite a few friends whom we went to the festival with, particularly Zlatan, a German dude who Studies in Siberia, and who has an encyclopedic knowledge about modern jazz. We talked with him for hours on end about the stuff any time the music wasn’t on. Great dude who we hope to stay in touch with. We also spent time with Leo and Chaz, two jazzers from London who seemed content to booze, smoke weed and listen to jazz all day (stereotypical jazz musicians), very cool dudes, as well.

Me and Danny with Zlatan at Mafkees on the last morning of the Festival.

Friday, July 11, 2008 marked our first full day, which we spent almost exclusively at the enormous Hudson Stage. As a result of our loyalty to this stage, we sat in the second to fifth rows in the center for all of the concerts.

At 17:30, we started with Maria Schneider and her great Orchestra. While I’m not too into big band music, her ensemble’s great modern arrangements, flawless execution and good solos kept me interested throughout.

Maria Schneider, Sky Blue Cover.

This was the second time I’ve seen them (first was at UMASS) and I was very impressed. Plus, She’s a babe (right).

Thereafter, at 19:30, we saw a great group called the Charles Lloyd Quartet: Charles Lloyd (Alto Flute, Tenor Sax); Jason Moran (Piano); Reuben Rogers (Bass); and the great Eric Harland (Drums). Unfortunately, We could hardly hear Jason Moran (who is a baller). The acoustics were bad in the second row (as bizarre as that sounds) as the speakers were basically behind us and the sound crew was struggling with the levels throughout. Nevertheless, and per usual, Eric Harland stole the show with his active and endlessly creative drumming.

Then, at 21:00, still at Hudson, we saw the Hank Jones 90th Birthday Concert. Unfortunately, Hank Jones was absent (sick). The group featured Roy Hargrove, a total goof (judging by how he acted on stage) and killer modern player, who stuck out like a sore thumb with this traditional group. Not a great band, but Roy Hargrove was highly entertaining.

The RH Factor

At one point, after taking a great solo over an otherwise hokie version of “The Sunny Side of the Street,” RH grabbed the mic and delivered a hilarious scat/vocal chorus that appeared to be on a whim and made the concert worthwhile.

22:45 Herbie Hancock Quintet (not a traditional or particularly functional group).
Herbie Hancock (Piano, Keyboards, Keytar man!); Chris Potter (Sax); Lionel Loueke (guitar); Dave Holland (bass); and Vinnie Colaiuta (drum machine), actually drum set, but he might as well have been a machine.

Although Dave Holland and Chris Potter were in this group, and are some of the finest and most respectable jazz musicians on the planet, this group did not work, and they should not have subjected themselves to this form of debasement. Several times thoughout the gig, either when Herbie played the Keytar or was doodling with his stupid keyboards too much and getting in the way of their attempts to make real music out of his trash, they would exchange a glance that said “This is awful, get me out of here.” While Herbie used to be a respectable and great musician, he has gone completely commercial and his chops are almost nonexistent at this point. Several times throughout the performance I saw him check his watch and I even have a great picture of him looking at his watch while playing some stupid gimmicky crap on the keytar (below, right).

Herbie playing Keytar and checking his watch, clearly he was bored.

His concern for the time is quite ironic as his time was pretty poor. During the tune they played in 13 (that sounded awful), it was very clear that he was unable to hold it together and looked to his guitarist on several occasions to find the downbeat. Dave Holland was reserved to a basic timekeeping function (which is very uncharacteristic for him), and he even was forced to play electric (which he never does) and repeat the stupid “Chameleon” vamp 8 thousand times. Entertaining stuff nonetheless. Plus, when you could actually hear Chris Potter over Herbie’s gimmicks, he played some incredible stuff. I had never seen him live before so I was happy to see him in any capacity, as he is a rare talent.

If only Herbie could get back to his pre-80s self, before Miles’ “experiment” in jazz/rock fusion ruined him (and almost ruined the great Wayne Shorter, as well). One promising moment was in Herbie’s piano introduction to “Cantelope Island” when he quoted the melody to one of his great early compositions from his 1965 quintet album with Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Freddie Hubbard, and George Coleman, “Maiden Voyage” entitled “Dolphin Dance.” However, we were, yet again, severely disappointed when he opted for the commercial hit instead.

At Midnight, we finally left Hudson to see Jill Scott at Maas Stage; She completely redeemed the night after Herbie’s garbage. Jilly from Philly tore the roof off the concert hall. What an awesome performance, very tight rhythm section and brass. She was an amazing entertainer and motivational speaker and the energy level was incredible.

Jilly from Philly

Nearly all of the thousands of audience members were dancing to her hip, funky music. Also, her voice is so great. Note to self, I need to get more of her music pronto, and recommend others do as well.

Depois de umas merecidas férias do trabalho e do Modesta Música Moderna volto ao blog com post recheado de soul e jazz.

Estou falando do americano José James. Nascido em Nova Iorque, mas ‘World Citizen’ como ele mesmo se define, esse jovem é um dos cantores mais impressionantes e instigantes que conheci nos últimos tempos. Como disse um crítico, ‘James é para quem não acreditava mais nos cantores’.

Com origem no drum and bass e no hip-hop (essa última muito forte) somado a uma voz de cantor de jazz dos anos 50, daquelas de interpretes, ele consegue criar um jazz impressionamente contemporâneo.

Ele canta jazz de uma forma quebrada, como se estivesse cantando um rap americano. É entusiasmante ver ele cantar Coltrane.

Além dessa voz e dessa forma inusitada de cantar ele escreve e compõe suas próprias músicas…melhor do que ler é ver ele fazendo tudo isso:

(‘Park Bench People’ é um cover de um clássico do hip-hop americano de 1993 e o videoclip, primeiro do disco ‘Dreamer’, foi gravado num abrigo para sem tetos em NY.)

(‘Blackeyedsusan’ gravado em 2008 na Paradiso em Amsterdam)

(em Paris, com direito a beatbox)

CLICAR AQUI PARA BAIXAR ‘DREAMER’.

Disponibilizei para download o último disco dele, ‘Dreamer’. Todo o disco é muito bom, do começo ao fim, mas é um disco para quem gosta ou tem tendência a gostar de jazz, pois ele vai fundo nas raízes do gênero para a partir disso inovar e ser contemporâneo.

Aproveitem. Daqui a alguns dias vem mais jazz.

Supersterren Herbie Hancock en Alicia Keys treden dit jaar op tijdens het North Sea Jazz festival in Nederland, zo maakte de organisatie bekend. Het festival wordt dit jaar op 11, 12 en 13 juli gehouden in Rotterdam. Het volledige festivalprogramma wordt op 6 mei bekendgemaakt. Eerder raakte al bekend dat ook Bobby McFerrin, Diana Krall en Pat Metheny acte de présence zullen geven. Andere muzikanten die dit jaar optreden: Brad Mehldau Trio, Cassandra Wilson en het Bobby Hutcherson Quartet.