Carla Bley at the Bimhuis

For me, one of the musical highlights of 2009 was a live concert of Carla Bley and the Lost Chords at the BIMhuis in Amsterdam, Netherlands. I really enjoyed listening to the compositional work of Bley and friends. Carla Bley on piano, Andy Sheppard on saxophone, Bill Drummond on drums, and Steve Swallow on bass created a fantastic musical atmosphere: intimate, humoresque, and tense. Click here for concert pictures.

Uitmarkt 2008

This year I went to the 'Uitmarkt' for the first time in my life. The 'Uitmarkt' is a three-days festival where cultural institutions from Amsterdam and surroundings present themselves. During this festival I mainly focused on the musical concerts in the Bimhuis and the 'Conservatorium van Amsterdam' (CvA). Especially the concerts in the new CvA building were great. The first -and probably best- concert I saw was in the Blue Note Room of the CvA. Here, the Vlado Spisiak Band played a really groovy set of music. I liked the good harmony and rhythm and it was obvious the musicians were enjoying themselves. Other interesting concerts were Nueva Manteca's and Bo de Graaf's 'I compani sms in concert.' The concept of the concert of the last named group was intriguing: before the concert started the audience was asked to send text messages (sentences / phrases / words) to a central computer. The text messages were displayed on a large screen one at a time and were the point of departure of a variety of musical improvisations. Although the idea was great, the musical results were a bit skimpy. In short, the Uitmarkt was an interesting and high-quality 'cultural preview' of the upcoming season. Maybe a bit too crowded (tja: 'kicks voor niks...').

Deep Screen

Sunday July 13, 2008, we went to the Stedelijk Museum CS in Amsterdam to see the exhibition Deep Screen. This exhibiton (30.05.08 - 30.09.08) presents contemporary (digital) art and I think it is a 'must seen' for those who like digital art and culture. I especially liked the work of Jochem van der Spek and Marnix de Nijs and Edwin van der Heide. Work of Van der Spek is really amusing: a digital chalk drawing is constantly redrawn. Further I was fascinated by the rotating loudspeaker made by De Nijs and Van der Heide. Although not digital in nature, this spinning sculpture drew my attention because of the underlying technology: the speaker responds to the movement of the audience and it looks like it pursues you as a spectator. In short... this exhibition is highly recommended for those who like contemporary (digital) art (and... it is probably the last chance to see an exhibition in this great, but provisional accomodation of the Stedelijk Museum).

SonicBloom

On monday May the 26th, Remp and I went to a great concert of Hiromi's Sonicbloom at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam. Hiromi is an extraordinary piano player. Her technical skills are fantastic and she can play a repertory of different styles at high level. During the concert she passed these styles under seperate review. It was both great and 'kitschy' at the same time. The concert was full of energy and joy and this combination made it a special one.

Lloyd Hotel Theatresports

On May 9, 2008, members of Remco's Pink Lloyd Theatresports Group played their first theatresports game at the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam. Two teams were formed: Het Roze Gevaar (the Pink Peril) and Het JA!-team (the Yes!-team). I musically accompanied this fantastic 'sporting event' and it was my job to back up the scenes musically and to provide input for musical games. The teamplayers of the Pink Peril and the Yes!-team played really great. A special remark for the presentor of the game: former co-student 'good old' Perry enthusiastically introduced both players and games to the audience. Also the jury made a good job of their work: both members were hilariously strict. Should be continued!

Bevrijdingsfestival 2008

On Monday the 5th of May we went to the 'Bevrijdingsfestival' in Amsterdam. The weather was exceptional: bright and sunny. For me one of the highlights of the festival was a performance by the New Cool Collective (NCC). Although they have been playing together for quite some time now, their music is still good and definitely not boring. OK, maybe I'm a bit biased since I practically grew up with their Soul-jazz-latin-flavours-nineties-vibes style they have been promoting for years now. Nevertheless, the musicians of NCC played great, groovy and 'strak' and compliments for Anton Goudsmit for his lively performance. Again he was full of beans!

VKS and Wurli 3 at the BIMhuis

Saturday the 5th of January PaQ and I attended a concert at the BIMhuis in Amsterdam. This 'first concert of 2008' turned out to be a surprising one.

Ever since the great Wurli Trio concert at East of Eastern in Nijmegen in 2006 I am a big fan of the 'corny' sound of this Trio. Because the Wurli Trio doesn't perform that often there was plenty of reason to visit their concert at the BIMhuis. However, the performance of the trio was a bit disappointing. Although some of the songs were nice (the authentic corny stuff) and surprising there was little chemistry on stage. And that was one of the reasons for likening the trio back in 2006. I think they had a bit of an off-day.

Luckily the concert of the Wurli Trio was part of a double concert. Precisely at 9:00 PM Van Veenendaal, Kneer, and Sun (VKS) started their concert. This concert was really good. The musicians played energetic and the improvisations were great. The performance was punctuated with humor and for the audience it was nice to see that the musicians were enjoying themselves. This proves infectious for the spectator. After the concert I bought the latest CD of the VKS trio, that is "Predicatble point of impact". For everyone who enjoys listening to improvised (jazz) music this CD is highly recommended.

Don't look back!

Keep on going and don't look back. Not exactly a blogger's phrase, but at the moment a phrase that crosses my mind so now and then. The holidays are within reach and therefore I definitly look ahead. On the other side... the past few weeks were not bad. Exemplified: I had a great birthday and last weekend I saw an interesting performance at the stage of the open-air theatre in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. So, some great events passed by. For those who watch out for the summer holidays and have to deal with 'the tail end': listen and watch Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger.

Amsterdam Sound Scape

One of the most interesting musical impressions of the city of Amsterdam was made in the nineties of the last century. Benjamin Herman (a.o. New Cool Collective) plays the saxophone and creates his 'Amsterdam-reality-sound'. Listen and watch this video clip.