The title piece, La Libelula (or in english: Dragonfly) is written by Tico Pierhagen in Colombia. As you will look at the name of all twelve tracks, you will find that each song was written in a different country. La Libelula will give you many different “flavors”of music and is therefore a symbol for all countries that are in between the United States and The Netherlands.

I am proud to give you the tracklist:

Track 1
Country: France
Original title: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
International title: I Will Wait For You
Duration: 5:27

Track 2
Country: Mexico
Original title: Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado
International title: What A Difference A Day Makes
Duration: 3:31

Track 3
Country: Colombia
Original title: La Libelula
International title: La Libelula
Duration: 4:34

Track 4
Country: Belgium
Original title: Ne me Quitte Pas
International title: Do Not Leave Me
Duration: 4:42

Track 5
Country: Australia
Original title: Waltzing Mathilda
International title: Waltzing Mathilda
Duration: 2:45

Track 6
Country: Sweden
Original title: Vem Kan Segla
International title: Vem Kan Segla
Duration: 3:27

Track 7
Country: Italy
Original title: Estate
International title: Estate
Duration: 3:34

Track 8
Country: Netherlands
Original title: Dat Mistige Rooie Beest
International title: That Misty Red Beast
Duration: 5:43

Track 9
Country: United Kingdom
Original title: Imagine
International title: Imagine
Duration: 3:59

Track 10
Country: Brazil
Original title: Manha de Carnaval
International title: The Day In The Life Of A Fool
Duration: 5:00

Track 11
Country: United States of America
Original title: Body & Soul
International title: Body & Soul
Duration: 4:55

Track 12
Country: Ireland
Original title: Danny Boy
International title: Danny Boy
Duration: 3:52

La Libelula will available soon. I will keep you informed.

To make myself feel convenient I first played my favorite tune Body & Soul. Paul made a beautiful arrangement and I think the compleate song was ready in half an hour. Some more songs were recorded until we reached the third song. Then Richard noticed that my harmonica was of key! Fortunately I bought another harmonica. Off key as wel… The harmonica was tuned 441 or 442 while the piano was tuned 440. I felt like Britney Spears when Richard started an application in the control room that made sure that the tunning was 440 again…

Because of this deception I had to take a break, but then I got the spirit again. We recorded another four or five tracks. At 14:00 Paul Poulissen came in to record the intro for one of the songs. We had to make three takes, but then the result was perfect. I also asked Paul to stay for the recording of Ne Me Quitte Pas. Paul has made a beautiful arrangement and I did not want to “destroy” his work. Paul gave cues form the control room and again two takes were recorded.

After Paul left, me made the last recordings. The job was finished at 17:10. A chat, a drink and then the work was completely finished. That is to say… three more days for editing…

I am sure you will love this CD!

At 19:30 we arrived at the studio. We had a cup of coffee and then Mathilde “hided’ in the “sound booth”. Richard and I took our place in the control room.

The first song, Imagine is one of my favorite songs of John Lennon. Mathilde made her two takes, we listened to it and re-recorded a few parts. The same thing happenend with Cuando vuelva a tu lado. Mathilde prefers to sing the English verse. Therefore only the beginning of the song is sang in Spannish. The rest is in English.

After 30 minutes the recording session was finished! I am sure you will be amazed by the great performance of Mathilde!

Monday 19 July it was the first recording day. I walked in at 8:30 to help Lex Tanger with the drums, but at that time the grand piano was tuned. Lex got orders to get in later. He arrived at 9:00. Lex prepared his drums and Richard and Lex checked all the microphones and the sound.

At 10:00 Paul Poulissen, Rico de Jeer and Martin Jagt walked in. They all prepared while I got some “coffee food”. As I returned they were already rehearsing the most difficult part. This song, written by my friend Tico Pierhagen, contains many different music styles. From classical to latin and from funk to swing. Paul suggested to make two takes of each song. After the second take, we made the descision which take to keep. Then the “difficulties” were re-recorded. I was playing along in the control room, to get the complete picture of each song. The song was ready at about 11:00 to everyones big surprise!

As soon as the most difficult song was recorded the team got more enthusiastic each second. We decided to record three more tracks before the coffee break. In the mean time the piano was tuned again. I was amazed by the good “ears” of Richard. He heard every mistake, every wrong or off key note and he was focussed on the tuning.

In the afternoon Adrie Hoogland came along to see how things were going. He is the executive producer for Home of Jazz. During the recording he made some good remarks and did several suggestions. Mathilde walked in at 16:00 to sing along with her two tracks.

Everything went just great! At 19:00 the first recording session was finished, while everyone expected to come home late. A chat and a glass of wine and then everybody went home. This was an amazing experience for me!

Three quarters before the rehearsal I got a phone call from Paul Poulissen with the message: “Houston, we have a problem!”. I know Paul… He had some very bad news: the bass player had to abstain from further participation in the project for personal reasons. After a few stress full phone calls Paul got in contact with Rico de Jeer, a bass player that can play both the double bass and the bass guitar. To my big surprise and happiness Rico could come over for rehearsal and for the recording session!

We all met at noon at Wakker in Eemnes to discuss the plans for Monday. Although most songs are well known, there is one that is new and rather difficult. This piece really needs some “preparation” but Rico turned out to be a great bass player. Paul was all of a sudden wondering why Martin was playing only two songs. The fit was perfect and we all decided to have Martin playing along in most pieces. Paul, Lex, Rico and Martin created a wonderful sound. Mathilde Keij was also present to sing her two songs. Rehearsal became a pleasure. All of a sudden I got a good feeling about the project!

Besides some employees of Wakker, Richard Poot of  ProMusic Studio walked in to introduce himself and to discuss some details. He is the person responsible for recording the CD.

The rehearsal did not last much longer than two hours. I can state that this is a new record if you have to play 12 songs… The feeling is great. We are ready!

So here I am. It is Saturday 12 June about half past five at the backstage entrance of “Het Paard van Troje”. After entering the building several employees of the theater introduced themselves to me. I had never been to “Het Paard van Troje” before and from the front you cannot see how big this theater is… It all makes quite an impression to me. While I am looking around, the members of Hot Water show up. The reunion with Donovan and his manager Marcel is extremely cordial. Most band members introduce themselves.

How long does it take to unpack a harmonica? The sound check takes long, but it is absolutely not unpleasant to “taste” the atmosphere behind the scenes. Especially the bassist makes huge impression on me. During his sound check he plays a few jazz standards for advanced listeners on his bass guitar. It appears that all musicians are great performers! At half past seven we have  to leave room, because from that moment the audience can walk in.

My “personal fans” and I have a short meal and then we “disappear” between all the Hot Water fans. There are about 150 enthusiastic fans in the room. Some of them I already met at Pier 32. Most of them knew already that I was going to play a song. In the room there are no chairs. The audience stands for the stage and in the back there is a bar to buy your drinks.

To my big surprise I am invited on stage after the first song. It might be interesting to know that I did not no which song or songs he wanted me to play. Marcel wrote in his email that the most logical song would be Going Home, because in the original version there is a harmonica, but Donovan starts a song called “Fat Cat”. The song does not bring “complications”.

The people around me in the audience find it quite amazing to stand next to a harmonica player who has just played with Hot Water. More and more I realize how popular Hot Water must be. In the meantime, the concert continues. The music is contagious and some people are  dancing. There is no break during the concert and nearly at the end I am invited again to play a second piece. It appears that this “Going Home”. A simple, but great song.

Hot Water does some extra’s at the end. They play “Laduma” again. This is the official world championship soccer song from South Africa. They have recorded 32 versions for all countries involved in the game. For each country the star players are mentioned in the song…

Around half past ten the show is finished. A lot of fans stay in the room and the members of the band mix with the audience. After a nice conversation with the management, the bass player and Donovan it is time to go. Hopefully we can play again. The concert has been a great show!

During the first break I was introduced to several other musicians. Together with drummer Alexander Bernath and bassist Daniel Lottersberger we created the basis band for the first “session” set. We were also introduced to a South African guitarist, Donnovan Copley. I had never heard about Donnovan Copely, but it appeard that he is very famous in South Africa. With his band “Hot Water” he played at the North Sea Jazz Festival and travels all over Europe and Africa.

The first thing that amazes me is his guitar: an oil tin with “Gastron” on it. The rest looks like a normal guitar. Donovan describes it as an “Afri Can” guitar. The second remarkable thing is the huge amount of energy during his performance. The music is simple, but is highly contagious. Within no time the audience is dancing. I got the idea that everyone in Kijkduin is at Pier 32…

After this set, another set is played with other musicians. Then Donovan returns on the stage and turns the place “upside down”. At midnight, he calls it a day and starts, just like me, to pack, but Paul keeps playing… At one o’clock, Pier 32 is almost empty, Paul is still playing. He cannot stop. We leave.

It is not that easy to find the car. The dunes are very dark (and no street lights) and it is quite a walk. I do not know if Paul has stopped already…

With songs like A Night In Tunesia, In A Sentimental Mood and Mr. Bojangles Fajari made a lot of impression on the audience. This time Farari arranged a nice group of musicians, directed by her brother Laurens. During the semi-finals the jury suggested that Fajari and I should work together. Therefore I was asked to play a solo in Mr. Bojangles.

Unfortunately Fajari did not win the competition, but the world will see us play together again soon…

The band of Des’ray was composed of Pianist Coen Molenaar (also seen with Jan Akkerman, Chris Hinze, Do and Deborah Carter), Han Wouters (Rob de Nijs) on the drums and Xander Buvelot (Ruth Jacott, Replay) on bass.  Des’ray also invited singer Adriana Romijn (René Froger, Volumia and Laura Fygi) and one of her students Elise. I did a small guest performance

During the afternoon many 70′s and 80′s songs were performed. The great voice of Des’ray and my solo in Angie Stone’s “I Wish I Didn’t Miss You” made a lot of impression. Most remarkable song was the swinging version of “Loving You” from Minni Ripperton. The song was played in a swing style and again I had a guest performance.

Desray also sang a few Queen songs because of her participation in a Queen project and together with Adriana she sang “Everlasting Love”.

As ususal the jazz session was directed by Paul Poulissen, this time accompanied by Frank Gort on bass and Lex Tanger on the drums. Many “younger” and “older” stars appeared on the stage. Most remarkable was the performance of Gideon Tazelaar (12 years!) on his saxophone, togheter with Steven Bos (13 years) and their “old friend” Jules Moonen (13 years). Together with Frank Gort they showed Wakker the new generation of jazz musicians. Gideon also played with the older generation some standards from The Great American Songbook.

I know Gideon since he was about seven years old. His song “My father is crazy because he likes Bach” was performed by the “Nederlands Blazers Ensemble” in the Dutch Concert Building and he stated afterwards that the song was not played in the right way. Steven Bos was a great discovery for me. The virtuosity of this young man is aone of a kind I have never seen before. Steven Bos replaced drummer Lex Tanger for a while; I did not notice the change.

Please look for the video attached. This was recorded on another place, but it will give you the impression of the three youngsters performing. I would like to recommend Gideon to anyone. Look for Gideon Tazelaar on Youtube for more interesting tracks.