No stuffy Dixieland but youthful jazz talent at Laren Jazz

“Laren has a long tradition with jazz, which goes back almost a hundred years when the legendary Ramblers played here at Hamdorff,” says Co de Kloet. De Kloet is a radio maker, jazz expert and jury chairman of Laren Jazz. He talks enthusiastically about Laren’s bond with jazz music.

Laren Jazz village

De Kloet: “Many jazz musicians lived here. And of course you had the Boerenhofstede and Nick Vollebrecht’s Jazzcafe, where the AVRO radio programs were made with the Skymasters and the TROS Sesjun with Cees Schrama. Many well-known jazz musicians have played there, such as Chet Baker and Dizzy Gillespi”. The fact that people often associate Laren and ‘t Gooi with fun Dixieland music is therefore completely unjustified, according to De Kloet.

This coming weekend, Laren will once again be the center of jazz music. At Laren Jazz, Sven Hammond and pianist Peter Beets will provide a tribute to the music legend Ray Charles. And on Saturday, six acts from the Amsterdam Conservatory will compete for the Laren Jazz Award. Although Co de Kloet is chairman of the jury, he puts the competition into perspective. “The composer Bartok once said, competitions are for horses and I agree with that,” laughs de Kloet. “On the other hand, such a competition is of course a way for young musicians to present themselves. And even if you don’t win, you might still get another performance.”

One of the participants is trumpeter Dima Loginov. This twentysomething comes from Kazakhstan and has been studying at the Amsterdam Conservatory for two years now. He started playing the piano as a 5-year-old boy and until recently he found it difficult to choose between piano, drums and trumpet. “It was here in Amsterdam that I really chose the trumpet,” says Dima.

“Here I was inspired by good teachers and students from all over the world around me. Now I am a real trumpet player.” So he feels completely at home in Amsterdam, but sometimes he misses Kazakhstan. He then converts that homesickness into music. “Kazakhstan has beautiful folk music. I incorporate this into my own version of jazz.”

Own culture

Back to Co de Kloet in Laren. He explains why Laren Jazz was chosen for young musicians from the Conservatory of Amsterdam. “If you look at the last ten years you see that the level of playing of students has really skyrocketed. But with the international offering at the Conservatory you also see a lot of diversity. All those musicians bring a piece of their country and culture with them “They are looking for their own identity. And you can hear that in the music. It is no longer the case that they blindly imitate each other or just play jazz classics,” says De Kloet.

A good example of someone who is looking for their own style is the young guitarist and singer Davide de Luca from Lecce, southern Italy. When you hear his songs sung in Italian, you might think more of pop than jazz. Yet his music can certainly be called jazz, says Davide: “My music contains funk, soul and R&B and these are all styles that are linked to jazz.” Apart from the fact that he sings in Italian, what is there about Italy in Davide’s music? “In Lecce, life is simple and relaxed. I try to convey that in my music. In addition, I also want to remain true to myself and not pretend to be someone I am not. Being honest, that is important,” says Davide with a broad smile on his face.

Second oldest instrument in the world

Another participant in Laren Jazz is Ketija Ringa. She is from Latvia and plays the flute. “After the voice and the drum, the flute is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Moreover, the flute also has a beautiful feminine appearance and I like that.” As a girl, Ketija mainly made classical music. It was only around the age of twenty that she switched to jazz music.

“Friends of mine had been working on improvised music for some time and through them I also fell under the spell of jazz music.” Ketija also incorporates something from her motherland into her own music. “Latvia has very modest but beautiful original nature and it also has a long choral singing tradition. Both are an influence on my own jazz songs,” says Ketija. She has been in Amsterdam for four years and already speaks quite a bit of Dutch. She is happy that she can play at Laren Jazz. She takes the battle for the Laren Jazz Award with a grain of salt. “I just want to play nice music for the people and have a good time.”

Laren Jazz will be held on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October. The six jazz acts from the Amsterdam Conservatory that participate in the Laren Jazz Award play in various locations around the Brink. Nick Vollebregt Jazzcafe, Café ‘t Bonte Paard, Brinkhuis, Mauve Café de Koerier and The Goodmac Jazzclub. On Sunday, Sven Hammond and Peter Beets will play in the Brinkhuis and the winner of the Laren Jazz Award will perform again.