Next theater season, State of Monc will play at several venues across The Netherlands (oa. Chassé Theater,Breda; Bimhuis,Amsterdam; Philharmonie,Haarlem). These shows will be organised by JazzImpuls, a great Dutch organisation with the goal to bring contemporary jazz to a new audience. The band will perform with special interactive visuals and Saxophone player Ben van den Dungen will have a special feature. Keep your eye on the calender.
Last weekend hundreds of officials and musicians gathered in Bremen for one of Europe’s largest jazz meetings: JAZZAHEAD! The Dutch Nu-Jazz Movement presented herself on this major international event and connected with professionals and fans from all over Europe who visited the stand. It was great to meet so many jazz fanatics in such a short time an the Dutch Nu-Jazz sampler CD found its way to a lot of them. Thank you Bremen for creating the right atmosphere and supplying awesome sunny weather!
Flowriders new album wil be recorded and mixed by Russell Elevado. Russell is known for recording and mixing D’Angelo’s Voodoo, the Roots, Erykah Badu and many more great artists. On the new album two Dutch rising stars will be featured: Nicole Bus and Esperanza Denswill. They will be touring with Flowriders live as well.
Next week Monsieur Dubois will enter the Flowriders studio to record a couple of fresh tracks for the Dutch Nu-Jazz compilation CD in the making. The upcoming compilation CD will contain unique new tracks and remixes from each band. The Dutch Nu-Jazz Movement will throw a release party in Amsterdam this fall, where the CD will be presented. We’ll keep you posted.
The Jazzinvaders started writing new material for their 3rd album (release planned for beginning of 2010). This time they’ve changed their recording approach. The focus will be more on vocal jazztunes, hence a leading role for singer Linda Bloemhard. Of course the songs will be played live too, soon. But that’s not all, also the instrumentation will be a bit different: they’ve welcomed the sound of the electric bass and electric pianos. It is all in progress, but it will definitly get The Jazzinvaders to the next level. Jazz is all about moving on, don’t hold back and never ever stop moving…
Last JazzImpuls Groovenight in Amsterdam saw State of Monc featuring Jesse van Ruller in a “live” situation. This led to an aggressive and energizing performance, getting the best out of all players. Also, Jesse van Ruller joined on a recent studio session with State of Monc. This collaboration will most probably lead to a great track featuring one of The Netherlands finest guitar players. Keep your ears open…
On March 22nd, drummer Tuur Moens won the Erasmus Jazz Prize 2009. This Prize is initiated by the Foundation Friends of the Rotterdam Conservatory and is annually presented to the best jazz student. Moens (drummer of State of Monc a.o.), a promising student from the Rotterdam Jazz Conservatory, shined out as the driving force in his trio, in which co finalist Erman Dirikcan played the guitar.
The Dutch Nu-Jazz Movement and its bands are alive and kicking and are getting more and more known across the country and abroad. Last week in the famous radio / TV show NachteGiel (check it out, together with much more footage on www.youtube.com/dutchnujazzmovement !), this week a four page article in Fret Magazine. Hielke Praagman (State of Monc) and Maarten Meddens (Monsieur Duboi) talk about the history of the Dutch Nu-Jazz Movement, the roots of Dutch Nu-Jazz and the history of their bands. To read the full article, click here (.pdf / in Dutch).
The Jazzinvaders are about to invade Spain, starting in the south in Granada and after that they will be conquering the capitol. In Madrid they’ll get excellent support from double-agent-in-disgize DJ Miguel Angel Sutil Cara and completely take over the Iberian peninsula.
It’s highly likely that the next State Of Monc album will be a live recording. In any case in December the Moncateers will do two shows in Rotterdam and put them both on tape. Stay tuned!