At the heart of this project lies "I Loves You, Porgy," a timeless composition from George Gershwin's 1935 folk opera Porgy and Bess. The melody, built on just five simple notes, is unforgettable-a testament to Gershwin's genius. Inspired by it's charm, we decided to center our album around this piece. While "I Loves You, Porgy" has been a staple for countless jazz musicians, our approach was not merely to improvise on it. Instead, we aimed to create "variants"-transformative interpretations that grew from this iconic piece. It's a unique exploration inspired by Geroge Gershwin.

The band of Rima Khcheich is a result of many years of collaboration with Dutch bassist Tony Overwater, gathering the finest musicians from Europe like Maarten Ornstein on clarinet, Maarten van der Grinten on guitar, percussionist Ruven Ruppik. On the album she also invited the Dudok String Quartet and trumpet player Angelo Verploegen, creating a uniqe new sound recorded in Holland's famous Wisseloord Studio. Rima Khcheich is Lebanon's most prominent singer of the "younger" generation. She is well known for her qualities as a clasical Arabic singer and the way she transforms this music to a contemporary new sound. Together with her Dutch musicians she developed a style of music that uses the best of both worlds, beautiful melodies and complex rhythms of the Arabic tradition combined with the advanced harmony and improvisation of the European music. After five successful albums combining classical repertoire with contemporary music she now recorded her latest album Washwishni with fifteen newly composed songs. She wrote most of the songs in collaboration with Lebanese artist Rabih Mroue and some were specially written for her by Egyptian composer Fouad Abdel Majeed.The songs form an almost satirical comment on the concerns of the younger Arab generations such as immigration, religious, revolution and love.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

KOHASHI-OVERWATER-VERPLOEGEN trio is a collective jazz group that creates a unique sound, standing on an equal footing with each other. Kohashi from Japan, Overwater and Verploegen from the Netherlands, beyond ethnicity and nationality, they seek and discover their own sound sharing the passion for music. Japanese pianist Atzko Kohashi had something special in mind when she invited Dutch bass player Tony Overwater to join her for a musical encounter. She longed to create a unique unit of bass harmony and melody with each voice being equal and contributing selflessly to the music. Her vision is connected to Japanese Zen aesthetics that generate simplicity and spontaneity. With trumpet player Angelo Verploegen they found their match- a soloist who can blend in, shine and support the music all at the same time. On a cold winter day, they met in an empty church in Amsterdam and started playing. For hours. Instantly the delicate sound of these three instruments blended into gentle and generous music that warmed their hearts. A few months later, they recorded the debut album Virgo in the only way possible for such a collaboration: in a beautiful radio studio from the 1930s, with a great sounding Steinway, only a few microphones but of the utmost quality and recorded directly to a two-track analogue tape recorder before a live audience.

Did you ever hear an 18th century fortepiano, a violone from 1560 and a historical drum and percussion kit playing contemporary music full of improvisation and groove? On the latest release of the Rembrandt Frerichs trio this unlikely combination has come together. And how! This mix of sounds has never before been heard, certainly not in jazz. The chosen repertoire is equally unorthodox: the trio play original compositions, baroque repertoire, modern improvisations and even Herbie Hancock's jazz-rock hit "Butterfly." Piano pioneer Rembrandt Frerichs developed a unique playing style on the fortepiano, an idea that was spawned by the many collaborations with musicians from the Middle East. The National Musical Instrument fund had such an instrument built for Rembrandt by Chris Maene in Belgium. In response to this, Tony Overwater started to master the violone, precursor to the double bass. Vinsent Planjer complements this with an unconventional collection of percussion instruments from all over the world. The Trio demonstrates that instruments from centuries gone by can sound totally modern when placed into a new context. The listener experiences a sound palette like they have never heard before, but is still somehow strangely familiar.

The band of Rima Khcheich is a result of many years of collaboration with Dutch bassist Tony Overwater, gathering the finest musicians from Europe like Maarten Ornstein on clarinet, Maarten van der Grinten on guitar, percussionist Ruven Ruppik. On the album she also invited the Dudok String Quartet and trumpet player Angelo Verploegen, creating a uniqe new sound recorded in Holland's famous Wisseloord Studio. Rima Khcheich is Lebanon's most prominent singer of the "younger" generation. She is well known for her qualities as a clasical Arabic singer and the way she transforms this music to a contemporary new sound. Together with her Dutch musicians she developed a style of music that uses the best of both worlds, beautiful melodies and complex rhythms of the Arabic tradition combined with the advanced harmony and improvisation of the European music. After five successful albums combining classical repertoire with contemporary music she now recorded her latest album Washwishni with fifteen newly composed songs. She wrote most of the songs in collaboration with Lebanese artist Rabih Mroue and some were specially written for her by Egyptian composer Fouad Abdel Majeed.The songs form an almost satirical comment on the concerns of the younger Arab generations such as immigration, religious, revolution and love.

Classical Music