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Saturday 2nd November 2024, 20:00 – Behind the Dikes. Gijs Hendriks (Utrecht 1938-2017) was a reed player, composer, bandleader, and a tireless inspiration for Utrecht’s jazz life. He was part of Boy Edgar’s big band and the VARA Dance Orchestra. In his own groups, bassist Bert van Erk and drummer Michael Baird were his regular accompanists for many years. Widespread appreciation for his work was expressed in the Wessel Ilcken Prize and the VARA Jazz Award. His home city Utrecht honoured him with the Culture Prize of the city of Utrecht and the Silver City Medal. Hendriks’ activities extended beyond Utrecht and the Netherlands. In the 1950s he worked in Germany, France, and Morocco. Among the many foreign contacts with whom he later shared the stage are Johnny Griffin, Slide Hampton, Nina Simone, Stan Tracey, Tom Harrell, and the American drummer Beaver Harris. Merciless is the title of a documentary that Ellen Blom made about Hendriks. Click for the Playlist of this programme. Behind the Dikes – Hajé Nordbeck (photo: Jaap van de Klomp)

Saturday 19th October, 17:00 – House of Hard Bop. On September 21st, 2024, Benny Golson passed away at the age of 94. Tenor saxophonist, bandleader, arranger and composer. A number of his compositions acquired standard status, including Blues March, Whisper Not, Stablemates, Killer Joe. From 1958 onwards, he quickly pushed Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers into the premier league of Hard Bop. A year later, he started the successful sextet The Jazztet, together with trumpeter Art Farmer. In 1962, Golson went on to do other things – studio work, commercial music, popular television shows. But in the 80s and 90s, together with Art Farmer, he breathed new life into The Jazztet. 1958 is a productive recording year for Golson. He is the tenorist on Abbey Lincoln’s It’s Magic. Next to him trumpeter Art Farmer and trombonist Curtis Fuller; drummer is Philly Joe Jones. The third album under his own name, The Other Side of Benny Golson, also with Fuller and Jones, is released on Riverside; Jymie Merritt on bass. He is next to Art Farmer on his Modern Art. Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers make the iconic album Moanin’, bassist Jymie Merritt. In Paris, a live performance by the Messengers leads to Paris Olympia, and to the soundtrack album with the film music for Des Femmes Disparaissent. That European tour in 1958 also brings the group to the Netherlands: the Concertgebouw and the Kurhaus in Scheveningen. A recording of the performance in Scheveningen will also be released. On the playlist there, Golson’s Along Came Betty, I Remember Clifford and Whisper Not. And then there is also Benny Golson and the Philadelphians (1958). Messenger Lee Morgan (trumpet), Ray Bryant (piano), Percy Heath (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums). This opens the hour. 1. You’re Not the Kind (Gigi Gryce). The theme – sax and trumpet – is an alternation of unison (both instruments the same note) and unirhythmic two-part harmony. Something we often hear in Golson’s arrangements. His solos usually start in a lower register, after which he goes up with long, faster strings of notes. Tangible dynamics. 2. Blues on My Mind is a Golson composition. Reduction in tempo. 3. Golson’s Stablemates became a standard. When the Miles Davis Quintet recorded a record for Prestige in 1955, Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet, Coltrane asked Davis to include this piece by his friend Golson in the playlist. And so it happened. Davis slowed the tempo and kept it mostly unison between the horns. This version gave the piece a big boost, but did not make it onto Davis’ repertoire list. The opening is granted to drummer Jones. 4. The subdued Thursday’s Theme shows Golson’s quality as a ballad composer. His solo is in line with that. 5. Afternoon in Paris was written by John Lewis (among others pianist of the Modern Jazz Quartet). 6. Calgary was the brainchild of pianist Ray Bryant, who also takes the first solo. Anyone who is not cheerful, or even more cheerful, should seek out a therapist – specialized in jazz. Meet the Jazztet (1960) is the recording debut of this group founded by Golson and Farmer. Trombonist Curtis Fuller is the third horn player. Also with McCoy Tyner piano, Addison Farmer (brother of) bass and Lex Hunphries drums. 1. Serenata is not a composition by Golson, but he did create the layered arrangement. A spicy opening. 2. It Ain’t Necessarily So 3. Avalon 4. I Remember Clifford (Golson) 5. Golson’s Blues March appeared in 1958 on the album Moanin’ by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. It became a standard. The piece – in blues form – was inspired by the marching bands of New Orleans. It is in the repertoire of many military and other marching bands. Top Notch Hard Bop! which will be continued in the next episode of House of Hard Bop. House of Hard Bop – Eric Ineke

Saturday 12th October 2024, 19:00 – The Palace of Melancholy. Today, The Palace is all about the question: Why? Pourquoi? Warum? Why? There may not be a day that goes by without this question being asked, consciously or unconsciously. This question can arise from every conceivable corner and hole in life, but the domain of love in particular is littered with it. This has its resonance in literature and music: Pourquoi loin de toi? – Why do I love you? – Why must I be tormented? – Why try to change me now? Vocal music predominates. Voices, style and line-ups form – as always in this programme – a multi-coloured, jazz-transcending bouquet, held together by the universal theme string: Why…? We know Annie Ross (photo) from the successful vocal trio ‘Lambert, Hendricks & Ross’. Vocalese was their specialty. Ross also had a solo career. I’ve Told Every Little Star (Why Haven’t I Told You) opens with the shy voice of a teenage girl. The sound of the celesta contributes to the dreamy atmosphere. Then it starts to swing in the ensemble, and with Ross. Johnny Hartman Why must I be tormented? Why must I dream of you? Why must I be tormented, with a dream that won’t come true? The jazz listener will immediately associate the name of balladeer Johnny Hartman with John Coltrane. The duo created the album John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman in 1963. This album, the only one by Coltrane with a vocalist, is considered Hartman’s best. With his baritone voice, he was a unique ballad specialist. In Why Must I Be Tormented (1956) he is accompanied by romantically coloured strings, harp, and – for sharp ears – here too a celesta. Dion and the Belmonts I wonder why, I love you like I do. Is it because I think you love me too? A group of four vocalists in the 1950s, singing in the doo-wop style. Simple forms, not too profound lyrics, limited use of instruments. Light and airy. It could well be that this song evokes the “chewing gum feeling” coined by programme maker Sjaak Roodenburg. Fiona Apple Why Try to Change Me Now dates from 1952. Cy Coleman and Joseph Allan McCarthy wrote it for Frank Sinatra. The Voice was going through an emotionally difficult period – both artistically and privately things were not going well. The song became a standard in the Great American Songbook. “I’m sentimental so I walk in the rain / I’ve got some habits even I can’t explain / Why can’t I be more conventional / People talk and they stare, so I try” “A moving piece of self-analysis” wrote music critic Will Friedwald. A performance by the composer, with images, can be found on YouTube. He sings and plays the piano, accompanied by bass and brushes. Fiona Apple also keeps the instrumentation small, but shows much more emotion. Slower tempo, minimal piano playing, also in the eight bars of piano solo. You can read the full programme in the Guide The Palace of Melancholy – Sjaak Roodenburg

The concert hall TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and World of Jazz are joining forces to put the Dutch jazz scene in the spotlight. Guy van Hulst (Head of Jazz at TivoliVredenburg) and Arjan Went (programme leader at World of Jazz) take the audience on an adventurous path through all the wonderful things happening in the Netherlands in the field of jazz and related genres.