The Asser music company Blue Note Bigband has existed for a quarter of a century, and has conquered the hearts of its members during that time. The seventeen-piece big band will celebrate its 25th anniversary next week with an anniversary concert in De Nieuwe Kolk.
The big band is ‘a feeling’, says bassist and chairman Jan Veenman in the Radio Drenthe program Cassata. Veenman has been a member of Blue Note Bigband for 18 years. “That feeling is so satisfied, because you hear the totality of the songs. A part is of course built up in harmony. And if you let that harmony enter you, each voice separately, that is what makes the music.”
The seventeen members of Blue Note have now become ‘musical friends’, alto saxophonist Marjan Sjouken explains. “We actually all go our own way, but Wednesday evening is just sacred. Then we are together, and then we will build something beautiful. New songs on the music stand and ultimately bang on stage.”
Assen seems to be a rich breeding ground for big bands, who mainly play jazz, funk and soul. The provincial capital has no fewer than four big bands, plus a youth big band. “I think that’s also because we still have the Royal Military Band Johan Willem Friso,” Veenman explains. “These are orchestras that leave their mark on the region. Not only in Drenthe, but also in the surrounding area. They spread their expertise, but they also play along with us. This increases the quality.”
Sjouken has been a member of Blue Note Bigband since the very beginning. “I missed the first two rehearsals,” she explains. “For me it is very nice to belong to the group. And that I am nice and safe in the saxophone section. That I do not always have to be in the foreground with a solo. It is the whole, the atmosphere together.”
Lately, rehearsals have been focused on the big performance on Saturday, November 29 in De Nieuwe Kolk. “It is nothing more than a normal performance, but it is special. Because we have guests,” says Jan Veenman. For example, during Assen Swingt with Local Music Heroes there will be guest performances by singer Jason Staal, guitarist Mark Schimmel, singer Judith van der Laan and flautist Diana Mols. Sjouken: “It’s a varied evening, with four fantastic soloists. You just want to be there.”