Ben Westbeech- Get Closer

Ben Westbeech of Brownwoods Recording - Gilles Peterson's independent recording label

No words needed, just listen to it, feel it, love it, and BUY THE ALBUM.

Jamiroquai

As seasons change, my change in music change as the chapters in my life turns.
For the new phase in life, I am gearing up with Acid Jazz.

Acid Jazz (also known as club jazz) is a musical genre that combines elements of soul music, funk, disco, particularly looping beats and modal harmony.

I am still sticking in the areas of Soul and funk, but I think acid jazz, compared to the past RnB Soul of my previous stage of life is more "chilled". Also it can be distinguished by the fab bass lines of most music.. I think this is one of the main reasons that I've fallin into this genre. Maybe this is my transition from Soul to Jazz, the stepping stone into just proper jazz... maybe not.

Anyhow, the forerunner of Acid Jazz in my opinion is Jamiroquai and the Brand New Heavies. Of course, there may be some other opinions on this matter.
I remember listening to Jamiroquai for the first time, when I won like 20 cds from a dancing contest- along with 2liters of J&B- and heard this in a Sony sample CD. It was Virtual Insanity, and when I heard it for the first time, I thought, this guy is fantastic. However, I think he didn't really hit the Korean fans till later on.

Anyhow, some of the songs that I believe to really represent Acid Jazz are- from Jamiroquai- which has the disco/funk bass.

1. Space Cowboy - serious chill music


2. Don't give hate a change - fantastic bass line, I mean like to die for- give me goose bumps - abit too disco for some people I guess.


3. Canned heat - also abit discoish. but if you say club jazz- this is it.


4. Cosmic girl - also very danceable jazz.


5. Virtual insanity- I think this was his first hit.


6. Seven days in sunny june- one of his most recent songs from the albumn Dynamite. It shows abit of the change he made in the recent years in adding more the acoustic sounds into his works - love it. especially the piano sounds on this.


I must say, having seen Jamiroquai perform live- at the 2006 North Sea Jazz- they are/or he- Jay Kay - is not the best performer. He doesn't really work the crowd well, he sings and that is about it. However, his songs are great. and well, listening to the bass live was ...ahhhhh....to die for. Currently his bassist is Paul Turner, who is the most recent addition to his group (2005). Before that it was Stuart Zender and Nick Fyffe.

Wouter Hamel

I am in Berlin. a fabulous city.
For my stay here, I had to choose one theme song, not that I do this all the time, but this one song just came about.. which I chose to be my theme song for my stay here- two months..
It was... Breezy from Wouter Hamel. I chose this song not because of the superiority of the music, but more so the lyrics of it-

"Come turn off your radio and lets go dancing, we're far to young to sit at home all night. What's the use of sleeping when we're in this city, it tries to stay awake with all its might. Cuz life just feel so breezy, comfortable and easy, ..."

Which is just about how I feel right now in Berlin.. especially compared to the city I used to live in- which I will keep undisclosed.
It wasn't just the lyrics though, it was also the feeling of the song. light, easy and sweet.



and who is this Wouter Hamel?
well, yes he is another up and coming Dutch jazz artist. Coincidence? Seriously this blog is becoming a site to promote dutch artist or something.

Anyhow he has the sounds, voice of the oldish, 40, 50s jazz. Melodic. Kinda Harry Connick Jr. ish as well. But definitely has abit of pop flavor to it.
He has mostly feel good easy listening songs.
His first albumn was released this year and he will be going around the NLs for a club tour. So look out for that. ( more info on his site www.wouterhamel.nl)

Pop quiz... so who was that guy playing bass in the music video??? look familiar?- yes he is the bassist from Banda Sensual.. Sven Happel

One interesting things is that he uses you tube quite abit to promote his songs, and has his own page there with all his videos. Also he made one of his videos in collaboration with loads of other youtube musicians.



Anyhow, what I think is he has a nice voice and his music is nice to listen to. It isn't something tremendous, mind blowing music but sth you can relax to. Seriously, I think his voice is abit too sweet for my taste´- I go for the more soulful types...
However he can do abit soulful as well ... as you can see him here singing a Ray Charles cover "Them that's got"



- although true, it isn't really that soulful as.. Anthony David, Anthony Hamilton or Ray Charles himself... but is again.. sweet and easy.

Anyhow check him out...on
his homepage
Or his myspace
Or his you tube space
Or for those of yous who are Dutch his hyves

Neo-Soul Gigs coming up in London2: Terry Walker

Another gig that neo-soul lovers will appreciate which is also in the Jazz Cafe is
Terry Walker. (for more info about her gig in the jazz cafe)

She's playing on the 20th Friday 7pm.

She is a singer songwriter= signed to Def Jam - has the Def Jam sounds - Her sounds are similar to Ms. Jill Scott. Very neo-soul. Guess you didn't love me - has the Mos Def sounds just embedded init. Very groovy, that cool sounds+ soulFUL.
She has started making albums since 2003. But have to say her later works sounds better- more neo-soul..

Forget my comments- i wasn't ever good at this.
Let your ears judge.
Her MySpace = 4 songs uploaded.
Her Site = only has two songs... the site needs abit of updating.

Here is a video of "Guess you didn't love me"



"This is My time"



This is her LIVE also at Jools Holland. with Ching Ching

Neo Soul Gigs coming up in London 1: Anthony David

So, yours truly is in London for awhile- too short if you ask me.
Whichever the case, for those of you who don't know, the place to be, if you like the type of music that I like, is The Jazz Cafe.
Its Jazz + extra -- the broader definition of Jazz.. so to say.
Whichever the case, so I had checked out the gigs that are coming up in July that might be interesting for those of you who are into Neo Soul.
For Jazz lovers- just live in the Jazz cafe, that's what I will recommend. Get a job there as a bar keep or something. Everyday is just too precious to not be there. I mean like seriously, I would really consider it if I were to live in London.

Whichever the case, some Neo-Soul gigs comin up in London that you might check out.
On 19th of July
Anthony David is playin in the Jazz Cafe at 7pm.For more info
I've already seen him live last year at Rotterdam, it was in a very hot crowded venue and he came on stage with just one guitar and was just great. Especially "Part of my Life". I know I have it recorded somewhere... and will up load it on You Tube if I can find it...(its on his myspace- live.. def listen to it)

From Atlanta Georgia, he has the acoustic sounds with the soulful voice with the hint of blues. He has worked with his female equivalent - India Arie on his albumn and also before on her albumn- I forget which and which song.
He's kinda like Anthony Hamilton but not as dry or husky.
And well I would have to say he sounds better live than his music you can find in his site. I do believe he is the type of musician that suits the basic acoustic sounds- cuz he knows his way around the guitar.... beautiful voice on top of it.

His myspace.<--better music uploaded here than his site.
Or listen to samples on amazon.
Here are some clips of him live.

This is in "Story line" but after a minute interview you can hear him live singing "be a part of my life"--- Great live...
(beautiful guitar sounds/chord as well...)


Here is him with India Arie with "Words" - skip the first minute the singing only begins after the first minute.


Here's a clip of him live on Later with Jools Holland.


Three Words... GO SEE HIM!

Gerald Clayton

Gerald Clayton the son of bassist John Clayton is a talented very young pianist from the US - however born in Utrecht.. coincidence?

I first saw him live last year in the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam playing with the "then" Roy Hargrove Quintet. I saw then, because they were not the musicians who participated in the recording of the albumn.
Whichever the case, they were a great group of musicians.

here is a clip of his solo I took last year.



I have never seen a crowd go wild like that on a piano solo which was not from the main musician of the group(you probably can feel/hear it on this clip) . The crowd just went wild with standing ovations unable to control themselves.
Actually Roy Hargrove gave Gerald Clayton alot of time for his solos in this set...which was a great plus.(the quintet was amazing btw)

The amazing thing is that he is only 23, and already has the energy and talent as a master... atleast well on his path to become one. He has already played sessions for Big names such as Diana Krall and also toured with Roy Hargrove..and have gotten reviews such as below...

"...an Oscar Peterson-like style, highly controlled touch and dynamics and rhapsodic, episodic soloing. (The audience broke into applause during his solo.)"
— Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

I think I am not the only one who believe this kid has talents..(from the comments on the clip on youtube.. :-) )
Watch out for him, he is on his path to become the contemporary jazz greats...(hope things do work out for him)

He doesn't have any albums out yet, but you can hear some of his music streamed on his site...

Gerald Clayton site
Gerald Calyton myspace

Renee Neufville Interview and live "Crush"

I found an interview Reneeneufville did on a tv show. Short, but she talks about how she started into the music business, and her transition to the Jazz world from the RnB world was via Roy Hargrove.



Also from the same show, is the song "Crush"
Its a beautiful song, soft jazzy and soulful. I must say the only problem is the sound system does not seem to be able to grasp the whole of Renee's voice- needs abit more echo- but ah.. really touches that part of your soul with its sounds.

RH FACTOR

Roy Hargrove trumpet player, in collaboration with numerous big names such as D'angelo, Eryka Badu, Meshell N'degeocello, Anthony Hamilton, Common, Q-tip, and exellent band session members..Marc Cary, Steve Coleman, Gene Lake; James Poyser, Pino Palladino, Bernard Wright; Karl Denson..
mixes jazz funk soul in a contemporary way.

For me I especially love the song "Juicy". Very sensual..with the vocals by Ms. Renee Neufville.

I saw RH Factor live last year in Paradiso, Amsterdam.. the band was amazing.
True quality music, so good that even if you don't really appriciate that type of genre, they were so good that you get pursuaded into their grove immidiately. The crowd totally lost themselves in the music and the band got three encores... it could've even went longer

Here is a link for his live gig in the Netherlands- RH Factor in North Sea Jazz Festival

For more info about RH Factor, Roy Hargrove home page

Their new albumn is out "Strength [EP]" (2004)

======
above was a past post from another blog.

=========
Actually saw them live yet again in 2006 North Sea Jazz, was great but was stuck in between extremely large dutch men... couldn't see anything.
Whichever the case, he makes greeeeaat music.(but must admit the band members were better in the show in Paradiso than in the North Sea Jazz.


He/they had their second album out called "Distractions"
released in May 2006. Also a funk/soul/jazz mixture, but in my opinion jazzier than the first album. Renee Neufville also sings throughout the album- Crazy Race, On the one, Hold on.
D'angelo also collaborated with the group on this album and wrote/sang the song "Bull shit".

Here's a little something I wrote on their site on their music.

Like a good wine
Insatiable 12/14/2006

Roy Hargrove,RH Factor's music is like real good wine. Its full strong and rich. Once you've tried this stuff, you cannot go back to, or even stand the shallow, musically substandard stuff any longer. And may I add, they are one of the few bands where its actually better live!

What I meant was its like when you drink wine, although you think you really can't tell the difference, after you have tried the vintage wine with the full taste and rich aromas, you realized how poor, bland the cheap wines are. Similarly once you tried the sounds of proper and extremely talented band sessions playing their hearts out to good rich music, you won't notice at first but later on you can't/won't be able to listen to the sounds of songs where all instruments were literally squeezed out by synthesizers or by poor standards- which is what a lot of commercialized music is like. As wine tasters develop their pallet of their tongue by years of training through tasting different wine, good music develops your pallet of your ears.

Renee Neufville Concerts in London

Renee Neufville is coming to London on the 25th till the 30th of June..

The place hasn't been announced yet, but its in London.

She also has some new music out in her myspace called
Each beat of my heart - bosanova beats, Fender Rhodes, Jazzish style RnB, trumpet and some more brass sections.. loungy and bright- seriously I am not built to be this music critique, I just have good ears for good music, and let me just say its good- the song itself is not that soulful but her voice makes everything better- i think the recording sounds is not that smooth..roughish- maybe this is a pre-recording of her up coming albumn...
&
This is always - piano, upright bass, drums, trumpet, more so the traditional smooth jazz sounds- recorded live I suppose.

Her album is not out just yet, but the cuts I've heard sounds good.
Those of you who likes crossover of jazz and soul r and b... would like it.
Its like if D'angelo put jazz in to RnB/Soul, Renee put Soul and RnB into Jazz..(get the difference?)

Banda Sensual

A Dutch based Brazilian pop/jazz band lead by "soulful" singer Eva.
Saw them live in Breda Jazz festival, and well let me say what a suprise.
They have the loungy jazz sounds- easy listening, latin pop can also be another. A bit like what you hear from Sergio Mendez - but then again its Brazilian..so..

In their words their music is a unique mix of samba pop dance and jazz.Band consists of Eva- vocals, percussionist, Fender Rhodes and keyboardist, bassist and drums. (all of which are a pleasure for the eyes as well as the ears)
I must say what really drawn me to their podium at the festival was the mix of the Fender Rhodes with the bass. (I must admit these days I will listen to anything with Fender Rhodes... I am a junkie..)

The band came together in 2003, and released their first CD Acustico in 2004.

For more click on Sensual

Also look out for their live gigs all around the NLs.

List of Jazz festivals in the Netherlands for Summer 2007

Okay, I made my share of complaints about this country. and Believe you me, you haven't even seen a tinkle of the whole sea of complaints I had.
Whichever the case, the good thing about the Netherlands, which is not to say is the only good thing, nor is this a characteristic only the Netherlands has.. but forget this not to sidetrack and moving on.. is that it has hell of a lot of festivals.
I mean I don't know all of it but let me just give you a list of some of them.

Jazz *all festival names are linked to their sites!
====================
Meer Jazz Festival - 11th to 13th of May in Hoofddorp Amsterdam.Amsterveen

Jazz in Enkhuizen - 11 to 13 of May(in 2007 but 16to 18 in 2008) well Enkhuizen

Breda Jazz Festival - 17th to 20th of May in Breda

The Hague Jazz "Don't Jazzytate" - 18th and 19th of May in well.. the Hague.

Jazz in Duketown - 26to 28th of May - in Den Bosch

International Jazz Festival Middelburg -26th to 28th of May - in Middelburg

Schelde jazz - 31st of May to the 3rd of June - in Terneuzen

Jazz weekend in Bergen op zoom - 29th of may to the 3rd of June in Bergen op Zoom

Jazz in Antwood - 2nd of June - in Antwood?

North Sea Jazz festival - the biggest festival. 13~15th of July in Rotterdam


Zomer Jazz Fiets Tour- Summer Jazz bike tour - 24th to 26th of August. Groningen.

The Rhine Town Jazz Festival - 6th to 9th September in Wageningen

Eemtown Jazz Festival - 6th of October in Amersfoort.

========================================
Actually to be honest, this is just some of the numerous jazz festivals.
I cannot list them all, not to mention other music festivals such as
Pink Pop (26th to 28th of May)
Elastiek (25th to 28th of May)
International Gipsy Festival (28th of May)
Festival Mundial (15th to 16th of June)
Roots Festival (16th to 23rd June)
Low Lands Festival (17th to 19th of August)

Just to name a few of the several festivals
but whichever the case, if you want jazz and may I say FREE jazz - I mean as in Gratis- well you know where to go.

Wicked Jazz Sounds

Wicked Jazz Sounds

This is one of my fixations these days. It consists of a group of musicians and mostly DJs (along with dancers etc) who combine jazz, hip-hop, soul, funk, broken-beat, house, drum & bass to produce a danceable jazz sounds called "Wicked Jazz". It does have some electronic sounds in it as well... as most dance sets do.
It was set up by DJ Phil Horneman and is based in Amsterdam. They have gigs every sunday night at the Sugar Factory but have expanded these days to clubs in Utrecht, Eindhoven and all across the Netherlands.

They have three compliation albums named Wicked Jazz Sounds, the recent one is vol.3
which has quite a compliation of music from well-known artists to less known dutch artists and others.

Definately check out their sites for they have radio shows which is two hours a week full of Phat tracks without any commercials. Mostly danceable tracks are played with d&b sounds or disco beats, but in between a shot of Nina Simone or Chet Baker is combined as well.

As they say, wicked jazz is better than food, sex...and...house music.

Go to Wicked Jazz Sounds

Dutch Roy Hardgrove

Okay, I found this guy, haven't had the opportunity to listen to all his stuff yet, but I think he is the dutch equivalent of Roy Hardgrove.
His name is Rob van de Wouw who is only 31/2 and has just finished his studies in the conservatorium in rotterdam- 2003- and released his "Hardgoove" albumn - Reboot your soul in 2007 january. His music can be described "funky nu-jazz, soul-jazz jazz-funk" or "the Neptunes meets Miles Davis while d’Angelo meets Chet Baker" hehe

Watch out for this guy, he has potentials...
His myspace

His official site where you can also get a taster of the music

http://www.robvandewouw.nl

and if you can read dutch
http://www.faceculture.nl/robvandewouw/index.htm