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Mark Lotz: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out!
by Mike Jurkovic
There's a curious sense of humor rampant throughout flautist Mark Lotz's 2023 trio outing Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out!. And why shouldn't there be? Given the nature of Lotz's inspiration--acid folk-hero Timothy Leary's era defining treatise by the same title--the music should be that and a whole lot more. And it is! Lotz, a three decade veteran of the hotbed Dutch jazz scene who has recorded/gigged with Chris Potter, Don Byron and a host of ...
read moreMarjorie Barnes & Millennium Jazz Orchestra: Both Sides Now
by Jack Bowers
Marjorie Barnes, a native New Yorker who has been living in Europe for almost fifty years including several decades in the Netherlands, summons her many years of experience to brighten and embroider Both Sides Now, her impressive debut recording with the world-class Millennium Jazz Orchestra (MJO). Barnes sang in the mid-1970s with the multiple Grammy Award-winning ensemble, The Fifth Dimension, and has worked with such luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Sammy Davis Jr., Billy Eckstine and many others. She ...
read moreZack Lober: NO FILL3R
by Jerome Wilson
Bassist Zack Lober has been part of the worlds of jazz and musical improvisation for some time but this is his debut as a leader, heading a frisky trio which also includes trumpet and drums. This album was recorded in the Netherlands and has Lober playing with trumpeter Suzan Veneman and drummer Sun-Mi Hong. The three combine for a tight, compact sound which is most immediately striking when Veneman's trumpet drifts melodically over the undulating rhythms laid down ...
read moreMillennium Jazz Orchestra: Bleeding Amazonia
by Jack Bowers
Bleeding Amazonia, the latest album by The Netherlands' superb Millennium Jazz Orchestra, offers clear proof that “music with a message" need not be barren nor bland. Amazonia is a vibrant and colorful eight-part suite by composer / arranger Joan Reinders, whose disheartening theme is the loss of the Amazon rainforest. Four of its movements have lyrics based on verses by the Brazilian poet and environmentalist Thiago de Mello, while a fifth has lyrics by Brazilian-born vocalist Lilian Vieira who has ...
read moreMichiel Stekelenburg: Trio Onoda
by Mark Sullivan
After releasing the albums Hypnos (Mainland Records, 2011) with a quartet and Layers (Zennez Records, 2016) with a quintet (both bearing his name), Dutch guitarist/composer Michiel Stekelenburg introduces a trio with the traditional line-up of guitar, Hammond organ, played by Arno Krijger, and drums, played by Jasper van Hulten. As the opening track, “Onoda," makes clear, this is not an entirely traditional program stylistically. It begins rubato, then follows a moody contemporary jazz path, reminiscent of guitarist John Abercrombie's organ ...
read moreSam Newbould: Bogus Notus
by Chris May
Sam Newbould is a British-born alto saxophonist and composer who has since 2016 been based in Amsterdam, where he leads the Sam Newbould Quintet. The group debuted on record with the self-produced Blencathra in 2019. Bogus Notus is the follow-up. The album is a substantial piece of work, a collection of eight originals which, says Newbould, takes the listener on a journey through the “mysterious corners of the northern English countryside" where he grew up. As the cover ...
read moreHermine Deurloo: Riverbeast
by Dan Bilawsky
On Riverbeast, Dutch harmonica player Hermine Deurloo winds her way through a wide variety of musical settings. And with Kevin Hays manning the piano, Tony Scherr holding it down on guitar and bass guitar, and Steve Gadd behind the kit, there's no place she can go where a comfortable feel won't follow. The album opens on Deurloo's “The Man with the Hat (on the Train)," a setting using a Steely Dan-worthy foundation to support a simple and catchy ...
read moreMillennium Jazz Orchestra: Octopus
by Jack Bowers
Octopus, the tenth album released by the Millennium Jazz Orchestra in its nearly twenty-five years of impressive music-making in The Netherlands, is actually an eight-part suite by composer / arranger Joan Reinders devoted to one of the sea world's more fearsome and enigmatic creatures. The thematic essay spans the whole nine yards, from “Evolution" and “Environment" to “Food," “Procreation" and several diverting stops in between. It was recorded in concert in May 2018 at Theater Bouwkunde Deventer. ...
read moreRose Ellis: Like Songs Like Moons
by Dan McClenaghan
After a promising beginning in the Netherlands--success with the Dutch pop group, Roos, prestigious schooling and prestigious awards--vocalist/songwriter Rose Ellis came to New York, with a scholarship from the Dutch government and jazz on her mind. She earned her master's degree at the Aaron Copland School of Music, a solid start. And now her jazz debut: Like Songs Like Moons. It's an obvious labor of love, beginning with Rose's own composition, “Satellite," that opens with pianist Glenn Zaleski ...
read moreMichiel Stekelenburg 5: Layers
by Mark Sullivan
Dutch guitarist/composer Michiel Stekelenburg expands his group to a quintet for his second album as a leader. Joined by saxophonist Efraim Trujillo, pianist Jeroen Van Vliet, bassist Guus Bakker, and drummer Pascal Vermeer he presents a sharp set of contemporary jazz originals. The opener “024" begins with folk guitar strumming, a sound recalling Pat Metheny, clearly a significant influence. That impression is confirmed by the implied dedication in the closing tune's title “Letter To Missouri" (Metheny's birthplace). The ...
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