Classical Music

Amsterdam based singer Ilse Huizinga is one of The Netherlands’ renowned jazz singers. After recording six critically acclaimed albums- featuring selections of jazz standards- she just issued her seventh album presenting entirely new compositions by Erik van der Luijt. The album marks a new path for Ilse, as this is the first time she recorded new material exclusively. When American writer and poet Dr. Maya Angelou passed away in 2014, Ilse discovered her work. The mood and strength of her poetry touched her deeply, and thus she began to collect the poems that most resonated with her and asked Erik van der Luijt to put them to music. This release is the result of this collaboration.

Normally when Dexter toured in Europe back in the sixties and seventies, it was as a solo musician picking up local rhythm sections in each city along the way. But in Holland, he had a “working band” with Rein de Graaff on piano, Henk Haverhoek on bass and Eric Ineke on drums. The main reason for this was that their booker Wim Wigt managed to find gigs in Hilversum, Leiden, Veendam, Venlo, Zwolle, Den hag, Heemskerk, Amsterdam, De Woude, Rotterdam, and Eschede. When Dexter would tell people about all the towns he had played during his time in Holland, they were incredulous. He would tell them that there were jazz lovers in all these places in a country the size of the state of Maryland. Dexternity is a tribute by ‘the working band drummer’ Eric Ineke. This tribute includes some of Dexter’s signature compositions including Fried Bananas, The Panter, Tivoli, Boston Bernie, Sticky Wicket, and more. They have also included the classic Body and Soul, the composition that “must” be played every night, according to Dexter Gordon.

Classical Music

David Liebman writes: “As the title of the book that Eric and I co-authored, The Ultimate Sideman, demonstrates, Eric is the epitome of what a total rhythm section player should demonstrate. That is recognizing exactly what is musically needed to make any soloist comfortable and relaxed so they can concentrate on sounding at the top of their game. This historic album provides total proof of how Eric accomplishes this challenging task. The instrumental focus is specially on tenor players featuring some of the all-time greats. With Eddie Davis, Johnny Griffin, Clifford Jordan, George Coleman, Dexter Gordon, Grant Stewart, Lucky Thompson, John Ruocco and I am honored to say myself, each track clearly highlights Eric’s sympathetic and on some of the tunes very intense playing. In fact the Dexter track might be one of Dex’s most intense and adventurous live outings recorded… a fantastic take on one of the great tunes from the jazz repertoire, Benny Golson’s “Stablemates.” All of us who have toured with Eric know how generous his spirit is, with a great sense of humor and grace not only on the bandstand but on a day to day basis as he organizes all the many level sof logistics required to bring these gigs off. This is a historical recording that I am sure took a lot of work to put together traversing decades from 1968 to 2014. The music clearly shows the way it used to be and in some cases still exists… a soloist joins a rhythm section for a few sets playing standards, communicating non-verbally and if it is Eric Ineke on drums, for sure, SWINGING!...”

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music