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Chopin meets the Blues Live

Peter Beets

Chopin meets the Blues Live

Format: CD
Label: Magic Ball Jazz Records
UPC: 0608917458923
Catnr: MBJ 74601
Release date: 11 September 2015
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1 CD
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Label
Magic Ball Jazz Records
UPC
0608917458923
Catalogue number
MBJ 74601
Release date
11 September 2015

"[''].. It's clear that he choses a melodic way of playing on the piano with virtuoso improvisations.""

Doctor Jazz Magazine, 01-10-2015
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
Press
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About the album

The music of Chopin has always had a strong attraction for me because of the power of its melodies and harmonies. The clean and simple relation between the two creates an inviting as well as compelling urgency. Like a pearl, it doesn’t ask for attention, it just naturally gets it.

There is a resemblance with the material in the Great American Songbook, the same unchallengable necessity. Being a jazz-performer I have extensively studied the work of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin among many others and in my opinion Chopin, even without consciously having “met” the African scales and rhythms called Blues, paved the way for not only the above mentioned renowned songwriters but also for great masters of jazz improvisation as Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Barry Harris and Oscar Peterson to name a few. Chopin enriched the harmonics, wrote easily recognizable and singable melodies and when his melancholy shows in chromatic embellishments (“blue” notes) he in fact created the universal language of contemporary jazz, called Bebop. It is my sincere desire that all over the world jazzmusicians will explore the treasure-chest filled with the works of the classical composers in an endeavour to implement these gifts in their musical expression.

On this CD you will hear six live tracks of three different concerts I gave with the trio. I hope and trust you will enjoy my honest tribute to Chopin.
Peter Beets treedt al enkele jaren op met het programma Chopin meets the Blues. Hiervoor heeft hij de mooiste melodieën van Fréderic Chopin met smaak bewerkt tot swingende jazzklassiekers. "Het werk van Chopin nodigt uit om op te improviseren. Chopin was zelf ook een improvisator." Hetgeen jazzmusici wereldwijd al jaren met Gershwin en Ellington doen, doet het Trio Peter Beets nu met Chopin. Chopin schreef gemakkelijk in het gehoor liggende melodieën, heeft model gestaan voor de eerste vorm van jazz, (de ragtime) en als zijn melancholie doorschemert in chromatische versieringen klinken de "blue" notes en blijkt hij zelfs de grondlegger van de hedendaagse taal van de jazz, genaamd bebop.

Peter Beets präsentiert hier sein Programm "Chopin meets the Blues" aus drei verschiedenen Live-Mitschnitten seiner Konzerte, in der er der Frage nachgeht in wie weit Chopin den Blues beinflusst hat. Zu sehen an seinen sangbaren Melodien und melancholischen chromatischen Verzierungen, die man leicht als Blue Note umdeuten kann. Zu hören ist keine Persiflage, sondern ein ernst gemeintes Tribut an einen der größten Komponisten für Klaviermusik.

Artist(s)

Peter Beets (piano)

Peter Beets has shared the stage with jazz greats like Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Chris Potter and John Clayton. He recorded with Jeff Hamilton and Curtis Fuller and in 2001 his recording 'New York Trio' was released, which brought him international acclaim. Peter Beets was born on the 12th of June, 1971 in the Hague. From birth he was surrounded by music: classical from his mother who is a music pedagogue, and jazz from his father who is a gynaecologist with a great love of Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey. This musical family, which includes two older brothers, Marius and Alexander, moved in 1972 to Groenlo, where Peter received his first piano lessons at...
more
Peter Beets has shared the stage with jazz greats like Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Chris Potter and John Clayton. He recorded with Jeff Hamilton and Curtis Fuller and in 2001 his recording "New York Trio" was released, which brought him international acclaim. Peter Beets was born on the 12th of June, 1971 in the Hague.
From birth he was surrounded by music: classical from his mother who is a music pedagogue, and jazz from his father who is a gynaecologist with a great love of Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey. This musical family, which includes two older brothers, Marius and Alexander, moved in 1972 to Groenlo, where Peter received his first piano lessons at the age of six. Although originally both parents did not associate the word "musician" with the word "career", music is definitely in the family's blood. Both Marius (1966) and Alexander (1968) become professionals on string bass and tenor saxophone, respectively. After college, Peter studied from 1989 at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He combined his music studies with law school, but the jazz virus matured and he decided to concentrate exclusively on music.
From 1985 the brothers performed together as “The Beets Brothers”. In 1988 Peter won the prestigious Pall Mall Swing Award and a year later the Princess Christina Award. After this point, Peter's career began to rise rapidly. In 1990 the first recording of The Beets Brothers appeared, followed by two more, School is Closed Now (1993) and Brotherwise (1995). In 1996, Peter recorded a remarkable trio album called “First Date”, with drummer Jeff Hamilton, the driving force behind Monty Alexander and Oscar Peterson. Peter became a much wanted pianist both inside and outside the Netherlands, and accompanied, among others, Deborah Brown, Dee Daniels and Holland's "First Lady of Jazz", Rita Reys. In 1998 he finished his conservatory studies, and won the Parisian Prix Martial Solal. He also became the regular pianist of “The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw”. With trombone and jazz legend Curtis Fuller, Peter made a live recording in 1999 and won in that same year yet another prize, the Concours de Solistes de Jazz in Monaco.
More recordings follow: in 2000 “Powerhouse”, in 2001 “All Or Nothing At All” In 2001 he recorded the CD “New York Trio”, with the rhythm tandem Rodney Whitaker and Willie Jones III, the first CD of Peter Beets recorded on the Criss Cross label. After the sequel, “New York Trio Page Two” recorded with the world-famous Larry Grenadier on bas he made a third CD for the label Criss Cross. This time with Reginald Veal on bass and drummer Herlin Riley, known from the group around Wynton Marsalis. In October 2007 his most recent CD appears on the renowned label. This time he chooses to perform without drums, but with the strength of piano, guitar and bass. The CD, called “New Groove”, is recorded in New York featuring Joe Cohn (guitar) and Reuben Rogers (bass). A few songs are recorded with a dutch cast, Martijn van Iterson (guitar) and Ruud Jacobs (bass).
Peter has had very successful tours with his trio in several countries in Europe such as Germany, Switzerland, Finland and Poland as well as in Japan and the US. He played at the famous Birdland Club in New York as a “special guest” for one week.

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Marius Beets (bass)

Playing music became a pure necessity for Marius at the age of ten. At that time his musical career started with playing the bass in various local pop- and rock bands. At home Marius came in touch with jazz music. His father had a big collection of the best jazz records and his younger brother Peter developed himself as a true jazz freak. Marius’ continued to explore these jazz influences and started studying double bass at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. From that moment on his career set off with great force. Marius became part of young jazz bands such as the Houdini’s, the Hoogendijk/Van den Dungen quintet and the Beets Brothers. With these bands Marius performed on the most important jazz venues in the...
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Playing music became a pure necessity for Marius at the age of ten. At that time his musical career started with playing the bass in various local pop- and rock bands.

At home Marius came in touch with jazz music. His father had a big collection of the best jazz records and his younger brother Peter developed himself as a true jazz freak. Marius’ continued to explore these jazz influences and started studying double bass at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

From that moment on his career set off with great force. Marius became part of young jazz bands such as the Houdini’s, the Hoogendijk/Van den Dungen quintet and the Beets Brothers. With these bands Marius performed on the most important jazz venues in the Netherlands and toured in the United States of America, Australia, Thailand and Russia.

Beets struck the attention of, and got much loved by, established Dutch jazz artists such as Rita Reys, Rein de Graaff en Piet Noordijk. The strong beat and forward motion in his playing fits seamlessly with the sound of the esteemed older jazz generation.

In 1999 Marius gave a new boost to the Rein de Graaff trio and set for several European tours with jazz legends as Johhny Griffin, James Moody, Bud Shank, Gary Bartz and Ronnie Cuber.

Marius has an impressive discography with over a hundred recordings. Featured artists are a.o.: Herb Geller, Jeff Hamilton, Deborah Brown, Rita Reys, Trijntje Oosterhuis, Peter Beets, Houston Person, Ronnie Cuber and Dave Liebman.

Beets is a well know guest at large Dutch orchestras such as the Metropole Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Schoenberg Ensemble, Skymasters and the Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw.


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Martijn Vink (percussion)

Composer(s)

Peter Beets (piano)

Peter Beets has shared the stage with jazz greats like Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Chris Potter and John Clayton. He recorded with Jeff Hamilton and Curtis Fuller and in 2001 his recording 'New York Trio' was released, which brought him international acclaim. Peter Beets was born on the 12th of June, 1971 in the Hague. From birth he was surrounded by music: classical from his mother who is a music pedagogue, and jazz from his father who is a gynaecologist with a great love of Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey. This musical family, which includes two older brothers, Marius and Alexander, moved in 1972 to Groenlo, where Peter received his first piano lessons at...
more
Peter Beets has shared the stage with jazz greats like Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Chris Potter and John Clayton. He recorded with Jeff Hamilton and Curtis Fuller and in 2001 his recording "New York Trio" was released, which brought him international acclaim. Peter Beets was born on the 12th of June, 1971 in the Hague.
From birth he was surrounded by music: classical from his mother who is a music pedagogue, and jazz from his father who is a gynaecologist with a great love of Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey. This musical family, which includes two older brothers, Marius and Alexander, moved in 1972 to Groenlo, where Peter received his first piano lessons at the age of six. Although originally both parents did not associate the word "musician" with the word "career", music is definitely in the family's blood. Both Marius (1966) and Alexander (1968) become professionals on string bass and tenor saxophone, respectively. After college, Peter studied from 1989 at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He combined his music studies with law school, but the jazz virus matured and he decided to concentrate exclusively on music.
From 1985 the brothers performed together as “The Beets Brothers”. In 1988 Peter won the prestigious Pall Mall Swing Award and a year later the Princess Christina Award. After this point, Peter's career began to rise rapidly. In 1990 the first recording of The Beets Brothers appeared, followed by two more, School is Closed Now (1993) and Brotherwise (1995). In 1996, Peter recorded a remarkable trio album called “First Date”, with drummer Jeff Hamilton, the driving force behind Monty Alexander and Oscar Peterson. Peter became a much wanted pianist both inside and outside the Netherlands, and accompanied, among others, Deborah Brown, Dee Daniels and Holland's "First Lady of Jazz", Rita Reys. In 1998 he finished his conservatory studies, and won the Parisian Prix Martial Solal. He also became the regular pianist of “The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw”. With trombone and jazz legend Curtis Fuller, Peter made a live recording in 1999 and won in that same year yet another prize, the Concours de Solistes de Jazz in Monaco.
More recordings follow: in 2000 “Powerhouse”, in 2001 “All Or Nothing At All” In 2001 he recorded the CD “New York Trio”, with the rhythm tandem Rodney Whitaker and Willie Jones III, the first CD of Peter Beets recorded on the Criss Cross label. After the sequel, “New York Trio Page Two” recorded with the world-famous Larry Grenadier on bas he made a third CD for the label Criss Cross. This time with Reginald Veal on bass and drummer Herlin Riley, known from the group around Wynton Marsalis. In October 2007 his most recent CD appears on the renowned label. This time he chooses to perform without drums, but with the strength of piano, guitar and bass. The CD, called “New Groove”, is recorded in New York featuring Joe Cohn (guitar) and Reuben Rogers (bass). A few songs are recorded with a dutch cast, Martijn van Iterson (guitar) and Ruud Jacobs (bass).
Peter has had very successful tours with his trio in several countries in Europe such as Germany, Switzerland, Finland and Poland as well as in Japan and the US. He played at the famous Birdland Club in New York as a “special guest” for one week.

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Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin is one of the greatest composers of the Romantic piano tradition. He was a master in making the small form great. His ballades, mazurkas, polonaises, preludes, etudes and nocturnes all belong to the most popular standard works for piano ever written.  As a child prodigy, Chopin grew up in a middle class family, who lived among the literati of Warsaw. When in 1830 the November Uprising broke out in Poland, the twenty year old Chopin stayed in Vienna. He became an exile and never returned to his mother country. He eventually settled in Paris.  He avoided public concerts, but he did like performing in small settings, such as salons and at home for his friends. This way, Chopin built a...
more

Frédéric Chopin is one of the greatest composers of the Romantic piano tradition. He was a master in making the small form great. His ballades, mazurkas, polonaises, preludes, etudes and nocturnes all belong to the most popular standard works for piano ever written. As a child prodigy, Chopin grew up in a middle class family, who lived among the literati of Warsaw. When in 1830 the November Uprising broke out in Poland, the twenty year old Chopin stayed in Vienna. He became an exile and never returned to his mother country. He eventually settled in Paris. He avoided public concerts, but he did like performing in small settings, such as salons and at home for his friends. This way, Chopin built a reputation as an exceptional pianist, teacher and composer.
Chopin brought a unique synthesis between the Viennese bravado and the French/English lyric style. Even though his pieces often are technically very demanding, the focus was always on creating a lyric expression and poetic atmosphere. He invented the instrumental ballade, and brought salongenres to a higher level with his many innovations and refinements.


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Press

[''].. It's clear that he choses a melodic way of playing on the piano with virtuoso improvisations."
Doctor Jazz Magazine, 01-10-2015

"The virtuoso Beets and his men are swinging non-stop, giving each other on various moments wings."
Jazzism, 01-7-2015

"Peter Beets has on his new album three nocturnes, two preludes and one mazurka transformed into swinging festivals."
Jazzenzo, 06-5-2015

"It's become a classic swinging and responsible production of extraordinarily high level, where in particular the respect for the work of Chopin sounds through.'" 
Bob's Jazz Blog, 01-5-2015

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