Hookin' Up

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 2021-02-19

Label: ZenneZ Records

It’s an amazing feeling. I’ve known it for at least 45 years. Playing in a great jazz big band. When everything is going well. When the connection among the players is so strong that you feel part of a musical force much bigger than you, yet you are still expressing your own voice. When you all work together to bring life to a great arrangement; to build a piece to its climax; or to swing so hard you want to shout. It explains why so many jazz musicians want to take part in the big band scene. Notoriously unrewarding from a financial point of view, when it’s “right” the musical rewards are so deeply satisfying; even addictive. It’s obvious that the musicians of the Red Light Jazz Society know this. Many of them have already worked with some of Europe’s top jazz ensembles. And now they have come together to bring that experience to their own band.
The ten tracks on the album are composed by nine different members of the band. Dave Vreuls did six of the arrangements, and there are also three by Guus Janssen and one by Robert Koemans. The band is full of good soloists. Overall, we hear solos from 13 different players, each playing in arrangements that give them a lot of room to express themselves. The arrangements seem to have been designed for each player’s particular sound, atmosphere and energy. The variety of composers gives the repertoire a varied palette of harmonic and rhythmic colors. The ensemble playing is terrific. And I must give special mention to the rhythm section, who function in settings ranging from the intimacy of a trio all the way to the powerful engine that drives the ensemble.
Koen Smits’ Obliquity and the Elliptical Path Around the Sun (arr. Vreuls) starts very small with hand drums. Once the melody enters, the piece gradually builds and makes way for the composer’s trumpet solo, with a nice open feeling in the rhythm section. After the backgrounds come in the piece continues its unrelenting build up to the powerful final note.
In a completely different style there is Gentle Woman, composed by tenor saxophonist Stan van de Wetering, arranged by Dave Vreuls. Inspired by a relationship that ended unhappily, Stan was able to find some good music as a result. This relaxed swinging chart features Stan on tenor saxophone and Thijs van den Geest on trumpet, spurred on by the full ensemble. The saxophone section also shines in several soli moments.
Tom Ridderbeekx says that his lyrical waltz, What Now “is about the emotions involved just after the attainment of a goal…”Ah, yes: as a composer/arranger I certainly know the feelings of both satisfaction and emptiness that occur at the completion of a big project. The pressure is intense but also exciting; and oh, how we miss it when it’s gone! Dave Vreuls’ arrangement features the composer on trumpet and drummer Wouter Kuhne’s crisp solo over the tune’s vamp.
Illusions is a reflective, slow piece written by Thijs van den Geest. The arrangement, by Guus Janssen, starts quietly, with Thijs in the solo role. After his probing solo the ensemble builds to a peak, leaving the soloist to finish with a soft ending.
Sam Thomas’s Lazy Lady was inspired by an unplanned evening lost in the Bosnian forest. In this swinging arrangement by Guus Janssen we get the feeling that perhaps this lady was not quite as lazy as she might appear. There’s solo space for Robert Koemans on piano and Sam on trombone. Then the ensemble takes over, with drummer Wouter Kuhne filling in the spaces. The ending catches me by surprise. It asks the listener to supply the final chord. I like that!
Mo van der Does says Prela is an abbreviation for “pre-relationship”. It’s a good word, and a really nice tune! Dave Vreuls’ arrangement features Mo playing an angular solo that really covers the whole instrument. There’s also a solid guitar solo from Gijs Idema (Gijs, I think I still owe you a couple of lessons ☺). I should also mention that Gijs comps really well, as he demonstrates throughout this album.
The first phrase of Rumination simply leaps out at you. Composed and arranged by pianist Robert Koemans, it starts with rhythmic dialogue between the brass and the woodwinds. The head chorus leads into a really nice interactive trio section, building into in interlude, then into Tom Ridderbeekx’s trumpet solo. The main theme, in Robert’s words a “melancholy, slightly sad, repetitive melody” builds and takes us to the end.
After a period of travelling, Dave Vreuls came back home and wrote Turnaround. I know well the feeling of coming back to your home space; the feeling of being able to relax in familiar surroundings and let the creative spirit flow. This lightly swinging piece features Gideon Tazelaar on tenor sax, and Gijs Idema on guitar. It’s also a great example of using the melody as a background behind a soloist. Always reminding us of where the tune comes from.
Dave wrote the final track Letter to J.M. to commemorate the loss of an important person in his life. It starts slow and pensive, alternating melodic statements by Dave and the ensemble. A double-time solo section implies that his grief is tempered with other, happier memories. It all ends on an unresolved chord.
The final track is Guus Janssen’s funky workout on Buster’s BBQ. It features Guus on alto, and Robin Rombouts on trumpet. It’s a real feel-good chart, and, not surprisingly, Guus wrote it as the final piece for the band’s first concert. And what better way to end the album than with a quote from Thad Jones’s Three and One?
Ten tracks, nine composers, eighteen players. I really enjoyed listening to this debut album. Over the last 25 years I have had the pleasure to work with The Metropole Orchestra and the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. The cream of the Dutch large ensembles, with so many great musicians. Now with this CD we have a great example of the “next generation” of the Dutch big band scene. Congratulations to all! I hope that this is the beginning of many more years of playing, composing and arranging for the Red Light Jazz Society.

Jim McNeely
Composer-in-Residence, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Chief Conductor, The Frankfurt Radio Big Band