Is a big band still relevant in this day and age? For the musicians of Tetzepi, that’s not a difficult question!
We all know the big band, that jazz band with lots of horns and brass, where the bandleader is a real conductor (and arranger), and a few star blowers are supported by a whole battery of brass. The sound is full and even, because there is no room for collective improvisation. Big bands had their heyday in the late thirties and early forties, but have been in the realm of nostalgia for about eighty years now.
Or is it? Can you also make modern jazz with a big band? Music that is a bit less smoothed out, and in which everyone gets a solo? Yes, you can. Various adventurous bands prove this. One such band is Tetzepi. This group was founded in 1997 and became a sensation within a few years. They had the honour of opening the very first Vrije geluiden (Free sounds). We have also recorded them frequently. Here we hear a concert from 1999, at the BIMhuis. The music goes in all directions, and as a listener, you are constantly forced to keep up. But that’s no punishment of course: the joy of this multi-talented group is contagious.
1. Jazzsx
2. Funeral dance
3. Entre deux mots
4. No rainbows today
5. Tatenen
6. Big city beat
7. Surfacing
8. Yes I know
9. Stra no cha
10. Yes I know – Fuck to come
11. Arabian oil
12. Garbu nalbak
13. Birthday suits
14. Mars bars
15. First snow
16. Droop not
17. Dalgo
Performers:
Tetzepi Big Band: Esmée Olthuis (sax, flute); Hans Leeuw, George Pancraz, Jimmy Sernesky (trumpet); Paul Weiling (sax, bass clarinet); Tobias Klein (alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet); Onno van Swigchem (baritone sax); Bart Lust, Michael Rörby, Alex Schappert (trombone); Nout Ingenhousz (drums); Pieter Jan Cramer (piano, accordion); Edwin Wieringa (bass); Frank Wingold (guitar); Wouter Hakhof (conductor).
