To celebrate the 40th anniversary of saxophonist Dick de Graaf as a jazz musician, Zennez published the special edition Festivewhich consists of an LP and a beautiful forty-page book in LP format.
It was perhaps obvious that De Graaf had collected a selection of earlier work, but that is not how he celebrates his birthday. With Barry Green (piano), Jos Machtel (double bass) and drummer Pascal Vermeer, he recorded seven new compositions of his own, supplemented with a cleverly arranged version of the Beatles classic. Eleanor Rigby†
As it should be in jazz, and certainly in the work of De Graaf, McCartney’s melody is only the starting point for a wonderful voyage of discovery into deeper harmonic structures. Elsewhere, the quartet is already on a roll, when it wetland starts with a catchy theme, which is then slowly disrupted. De Graaf limits himself to tenor here, and his tone is beautifully rounded. Sometimes a bit dreamy, then compelling and always deeply experienced. The beautifully performed album will be presented by the quartet on 14 May during U Jazz in Utrecht and on 20 May in LantarenVenster, Rotterdam.
Dick de Graaf
Festive
Jazz
Zennez Records
What new music has been released and what do the experts at de Volkskrant think about it? Check out our music page with this week’s album, all reviews and the tracks of the week.