Tony Overwater & Bert Van Den Brink Impromptu: Live at Rhapsody

Philip Catherine is one of those musicians who, throughout a prolific career, has developed a unique and authentic sound. He only needs to play a single note to be instantly recognised. He is certainly one of the greats of Belgian and European jazz. The relationship between Philip and Flagey began almost twenty years ago. It was therefore only natural that the institution should organise a concert to celebrate his seventy-fifth birthday.

In the fall of 2013, the cosy old bar of the grand café Loburg in my home town of Wageningen (The Netherlands) turned into a brand new, beautiful small venue, perfectly suited for an audience of a hundred people. In collaboration with LoburgLive, we started the concert series “Jasper Somsen Invites …” as part of the international programme of Jazz in Wageningen, in January 2014.

On ‘Sophisticated Lady’ Thalen plays Jazz standards in their most vulnerable form, only accompanied by pianist Bert van den Brink and Hein van de Geyn on double bass. Her violin mainly sticks with the original melody and does not immediately flee towards the usual improvisation. In a frank and honest fashion Thalen wants to make these songs heard as they are. This seems cushy and in a first hearing, the music may sound quite accessable. But apart from the fact that nowadays it isn’t common to play mainly the melody, the plainnes of this approach appears to be fairly misleading.

Live At Rockpalast was recorded at the formal setting of the Leverkusen jazz festival in 2005, which suited the group well; always brilliant when playing to a musically aware audience. It is a classic capture of the reformed band on great form.

The Jungle Boldie consists of three of Hollands most renowned jazz musicians. Overwater, Ornstein and Kegel met at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague during their studies and have been playing together ever since. They have the shared vision of what it is to play and perform ‘free’ music in the true sense of the word - creating a joyful interplay without any assumptions. "Jungle Boldie" features a pure sound painted by this unity, from the heart - in the strumming of strings,in the striking of sticks, in the sliding of screams.

The Jungle Boldie consists of three of Hollands most renowned jazz musicians. Overwater, Ornstein and Kegel met at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague during their studies and have been playing together ever since. They have the shared vision of what it is to play and perform ‘free’ music in the true sense of the word - creating a joyful interplay without any assumptions. "Jungle Boldie" features a pure sound painted by this unity, from the heart - in the strumming of strings,in the striking of sticks, in the sliding of screams.

The Jungle Boldie consists of three of Hollands most renowned jazz musicians. Overwater, Ornstein and Kegel met at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague during their studies and have been playing together ever since. They have the shared vision of what it is to play and perform ‘free’ music in the true sense of the word - creating a joyful interplay without any assumptions. "Jungle Boldie" features a pure sound painted by this unity, from the heart - in the strumming of strings,in the striking of sticks, in the sliding of screams.