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Big Barrel Organ

Bram Stadhouders

Big Barrel Organ

Price: € 17.95
Format: CD
Label: Buzz
UPC: 0608917612721
Catnr: ZZ 76127
Release date: 03 November 2017
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Label
Buzz
UPC
0608917612721
Catalogue number
ZZ 76127
Release date
03 November 2017

"..."When you compose modern music for these organs, you hear completely unique sounds, apparently a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds," says Stadhouders. His plays are neither pop music nor a fair. They are minimalist, stubborn, sometimes bulky. One could also imagine them as jazz numbers, chamber compositions or electronic scores. This combination of modern freedom and historical mechanics sounds as fascinating as it is unusual. Stadhouders thinks "The Rhapsody" was just waiting for him.  "

KultKomplott, 23-6-2018
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About the album

On this album, Bram Stadhouders & The Big Barrel Organ guitarist Stadhouders plays the biggest transportable dancehall organ in the world, The Rhapsody, using guitar and MIDI, mixing composition and pure improvisation.
The musician is the first in the world to do this, which is why he can be called the first dancehall organ guitarist. It is a crazy and adventurous project.

The history of dancehall organs goes back to 1850, when the first dance organs were made. In Belgium and the south of Holland especially, the organ became immensely popular as a precursor of the jukebox. In cafés, fairs and dancehalls, the organs were playing the latest hits. Besides the many organ pipes, dance organs are often equipped with extra instruments such as accordions, percussion and saxophones. Between 1910 and 1930, thousands of dance organs were built. You could find one in almost every dancehall. However, as the loudspeaker made its way into the public, these organs were banned to museums or private collectors.

Guitarist Bram Stadhouders thinks that’s a shame, so he went on an investigation. After playing on the dance organ The Busy Drone in Orgelpark Amsterdam, he discovered that many dance-organs now work with MIDI, which means you can play them with any instrument that can send MIDI. As he went on to look for a transportable dance organ, he found The Rhapsody, which was only a stone’s throw from his birthplace Tilburg in the south of Holland. The Rhapsody organ is 7 meters long and 5 meters high, has more than 800 organ pipes, 12 percussion instruments as well as 2 accordions, and weighs more than 5 tons.

“When composing contemporary music for these organs, you hear totally unique sounds, a mix between electronic and acoustic sounds. The dance-organ is really the first synthesizer. The way we choose sounds on any synthesizer is derived from the barrel organ,” says Stadhouders. The guitarist feels that he’s “made for this project”, a concept that he’s been waiting for all his life.

Auf diesem Album spielt Bram Stadhouders & The Big Barrel Organ-Gitarrist Stadhouders die größte portable Tanzpalast-Orgel der Welt, The Rhapsody, indem er Gitarre und MIDI verwendet und Komposition und reine Improvisation mischt.
Er ist weltweit der erste Musiker, der diesen Ansatz verwendet, und kann darum als erster Tanzpalast-Orgel-Gitarrist bezeichnet werden. Es ist ein verrücktes und kühnes Projekt.

Die Geschichte der Tanzpalast-Orgel geht zurück ins Jahr 1850, als die ersten Tanzorgeln hergestellt wurden. Besonders in Belgien und im Süden der Niederlande erfreute sich die Orgel als Vorgänger der Jukebox großer Beliebtheit. In Cafés, Tanzpalästen und bei Jahrmärkten spielten die Orgeln die neuesten Hits. Neben den vielen Orgelpfeifen waren Tanzorgeln oft mit zusätzlichen Instrumenten wie Akkordeon, Perkussion oder Saxophon ausgestattet. Zwischen 1910 und 1930 wurden Tausende Tanzorgeln gebaut; in fast jedem Tanzpalast konnte man eine finden. Als der Lautsprecher seinen Weg in die Öffentlichkeit machte, wurden diese Orgeln allerdings in Museen oder zu privaten Sammlern verbannt.

Gitarrist Bram Stadhouders bedauerte das sehr und begann, nachzuforschen. Nachdem er die Tanzorgel The Busy Drone im Orgelpark Amsterdam gespielt hatte, entdeckte er, dass viele Tanzorgeln nun auch mit MIDI funktionieren, was bedeutet, dass man sie mit jedem MIDI-kompatiblen Instrument spielen kann. Als er sich auf die Suche nach einer transportablen Tanzorgel machte, stieß er auf The Rhapsody, nur einen Katzensprung entfernt von seiner Geburtsstadt Tilburg im Süden der Niederlande. Die Rhapsody-Orgel ist sieben Meter lang und fünf Meter hoch, besitzt über 800 Pfeifen, 12 Perkussionsinstrumente sowie zwei Akkordeons und wiegt mehr als fünf Tonnen.

„Wenn man zeitgenössische Musik für diese Orgeln komponiert, hört man ganz einzigartige Klänge, einen Mix zwischen elektronischen und akustischen Tönen. Diese Tanzorgel ist eigentlich der erste Synthesizer. Die Art und Weise, wie wir Klänge auf einem Synthesizer auswählen, ist vom Leierkasten abgeleitet“, sagt Stadhouders. Der Gitarrist fühlt sich für dieses Projekt „wie gemacht“, ein Konzept, auf das er Zeit seines Lebens gewartet hatte.

Artist(s)

Bram Stadhouders (guitar)

Bram's relentless search for unknown territory and new destinations began in 2007 with his first album Tonelist, followed by 12 other albums (5 releases on Challenge Records). At 18 he was selected for the prestigious Young VIP tour. At the age of 26, he was the youngest composer ever to receive the annual North Sea Jazz Composition Commission. Not long after, he received carte blanche from the BIMhuis, for which he wrote the successful Cantata for tenor voice, guitar and live electronics.  Bram's playing is influenced by (natural) landscapes, visual arts, ambient and global music, always exploring the boundary between improvisation and composition. Trained as a jazz guitarist, he often seeks metamorphosis with electronics and classical music. With each new project...
more

Bram's relentless search for unknown territory and new destinations began in 2007 with his first album Tonelist, followed by 12 other albums (5 releases on Challenge Records). At 18 he was selected for the prestigious Young VIP tour. At the age of 26, he was the youngest composer ever to receive the annual North Sea Jazz Composition Commission. Not long after, he received carte blanche from the BIMhuis, for which he wrote the successful Cantata for tenor voice, guitar and live electronics.

Bram's playing is influenced by (natural) landscapes, visual arts, ambient and global music, always exploring the boundary between improvisation and composition. Trained as a jazz guitarist, he often seeks metamorphosis with electronics and classical music. With each new project he tries to challenge himself again. Bram is part of the trio Under the surface (with singer Sanne Rambags and drummer Joost Lijbaart) and is currently working on three major projects: A collaboration with the enigmatic Berlin neo-classical pianist Lambert. The further development of Orbit, an immersive surround sound experience with 8 Ambisonics speakers and special guests (including Nils Petter Molvaer and Remy van Kesteren at So What's Next? festival). And Suite X: a 9-part work inspired by baroque music in collaboration with the Belgian out-of-the-box thinking baroque ensemble B.O.X.

Apart from Holland's neighboring countries, Bram has performed in Mali, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia, Peru, Tadzjikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, India, China, South-Korea, North America, Canada, Norway, Poland, Germany, Russia, Israel, Spain, Turkey, Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria.

He has collaborated with artists like: Onno Govaert, Eric Vloeimans, Jim Black, Sidsel Endresen, Terje Isungset, Arve Henriksen, Wolfert Brederode, Karl Seglem, Thomas Strønen, Grzech Piotrowski, Sainkho Namtchylak, Sinikka Langeland, Per Oddvar Johansen, Ruth Wilhelime Meyer, Mari Kvien Brunvoll, Koenraad Ecker, Gulli Gudmundsson, Skuli Sverisson, Theodossi Spassov, Marcin Wasilewski, Bulgarian choir Angelite, Harmen Fraanje, Jeroen van Vliet, Eric van der Westen, Sanne van Hek, Haytham Safia, Wouter Jaspers, Laïs, Noel Redding (bassist from Jim Hendrix), Nelson Veras, Hein van de Geyn, Matthieu Chazarenc, Staplerfahrer, Spinvis, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, and much more.

“His composition with the barrel organ was not only fascinating, but also sounded wonderful. It attracted a lot of audience.”— Michelle Kuypers, North Sea Jazz Festival “The result is breathtakingly beautiful. Very unique how classical vocals and impro-jazz come together here. **** 4 stars, 23-09-2015. About Henosis.” — Gijsbert Kamer, Volkskrant

“The guitarist claims a unique place in the music world for himself with this project” — Jan Jasper Tamboer, Parool
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Composer(s)

Bram Stadhouders (guitar)

Bram's relentless search for unknown territory and new destinations began in 2007 with his first album Tonelist, followed by 12 other albums (5 releases on Challenge Records). At 18 he was selected for the prestigious Young VIP tour. At the age of 26, he was the youngest composer ever to receive the annual North Sea Jazz Composition Commission. Not long after, he received carte blanche from the BIMhuis, for which he wrote the successful Cantata for tenor voice, guitar and live electronics.  Bram's playing is influenced by (natural) landscapes, visual arts, ambient and global music, always exploring the boundary between improvisation and composition. Trained as a jazz guitarist, he often seeks metamorphosis with electronics and classical music. With each new project...
more

Bram's relentless search for unknown territory and new destinations began in 2007 with his first album Tonelist, followed by 12 other albums (5 releases on Challenge Records). At 18 he was selected for the prestigious Young VIP tour. At the age of 26, he was the youngest composer ever to receive the annual North Sea Jazz Composition Commission. Not long after, he received carte blanche from the BIMhuis, for which he wrote the successful Cantata for tenor voice, guitar and live electronics.

Bram's playing is influenced by (natural) landscapes, visual arts, ambient and global music, always exploring the boundary between improvisation and composition. Trained as a jazz guitarist, he often seeks metamorphosis with electronics and classical music. With each new project he tries to challenge himself again. Bram is part of the trio Under the surface (with singer Sanne Rambags and drummer Joost Lijbaart) and is currently working on three major projects: A collaboration with the enigmatic Berlin neo-classical pianist Lambert. The further development of Orbit, an immersive surround sound experience with 8 Ambisonics speakers and special guests (including Nils Petter Molvaer and Remy van Kesteren at So What's Next? festival). And Suite X: a 9-part work inspired by baroque music in collaboration with the Belgian out-of-the-box thinking baroque ensemble B.O.X.

Apart from Holland's neighboring countries, Bram has performed in Mali, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia, Peru, Tadzjikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, India, China, South-Korea, North America, Canada, Norway, Poland, Germany, Russia, Israel, Spain, Turkey, Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria.

He has collaborated with artists like: Onno Govaert, Eric Vloeimans, Jim Black, Sidsel Endresen, Terje Isungset, Arve Henriksen, Wolfert Brederode, Karl Seglem, Thomas Strønen, Grzech Piotrowski, Sainkho Namtchylak, Sinikka Langeland, Per Oddvar Johansen, Ruth Wilhelime Meyer, Mari Kvien Brunvoll, Koenraad Ecker, Gulli Gudmundsson, Skuli Sverisson, Theodossi Spassov, Marcin Wasilewski, Bulgarian choir Angelite, Harmen Fraanje, Jeroen van Vliet, Eric van der Westen, Sanne van Hek, Haytham Safia, Wouter Jaspers, Laïs, Noel Redding (bassist from Jim Hendrix), Nelson Veras, Hein van de Geyn, Matthieu Chazarenc, Staplerfahrer, Spinvis, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, and much more.

“His composition with the barrel organ was not only fascinating, but also sounded wonderful. It attracted a lot of audience.”— Michelle Kuypers, North Sea Jazz Festival “The result is breathtakingly beautiful. Very unique how classical vocals and impro-jazz come together here. **** 4 stars, 23-09-2015. About Henosis.” — Gijsbert Kamer, Volkskrant

“The guitarist claims a unique place in the music world for himself with this project” — Jan Jasper Tamboer, Parool
less

Press

..."When you compose modern music for these organs, you hear completely unique sounds, apparently a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds," says Stadhouders. His plays are neither pop music nor a fair. They are minimalist, stubborn, sometimes bulky. One could also imagine them as jazz numbers, chamber compositions or electronic scores. This combination of modern freedom and historical mechanics sounds as fascinating as it is unusual. Stadhouders thinks "The Rhapsody" was just waiting for him.  
KultKomplott, 23-6-2018

It is not a guitarist that uses the organ as accompaniment, it's s the other way around: Stadhouders is moving the Rapsody with the guitar and laptop ... Stunning.
Jazzism, 16-2-2018

'The Rhapsody' is a technical masterpiece and a model of experimentation and creativity
JazzFlits, 18-12-2017

Improvised music with a barrel organ. That may sound like something impossible, but Bram Stadhouders proves that it can be done. And that it may not be as difficult as it seems.
Gitarist, 01-12-2017

In all cases, the guitarist demands a unique place in the world of music for this project.
Het Parool, 11-11-2017

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