Frenchy’s Fracas

General Info
Artist: Koop || ||
Location: De Melkweg, Amsterdam
When: 21 February 2008

Who?
Liked their recent release Koop Islands, saw them at The Hague Jazz last year, thought it’d be fun to go see them again.
Check out some of his performances at .

The Show
The Melkweg is an excellent location for this kind of concert: practical, nice acoustics and not too steaming hot.
The guys started on time, and the moment the band was on stage, you knew you were getting a show from performers that love their music and love to share it with the audience. Although, somehow there still is this disconnect between crowd and band, can’t put my finger on it.
I really am getting old coz I was ready to choke some people in the audience for talking all the frigging time through almost all of the songs. You know what? If you wanna chat with your friends, move the frak out of this building and go find a bar, pretty please, with sugar on top?
Stand-in vocalist for this evening, dunno her name, but she almost made me forget the cute and lovely Miss Yukimi Nagano. This did a great job performing the songs in her own way and boy, does she now how to perform..

Songs that Stood Out
Come To Me
Closing song, always a crowd pleaser.

Koop Islands Song
Probably the opening track, strong presence from leading vocal lady

Unknown Song Relaxin’ at club F****n
Possibly on earlier albums, a great dance track straight from the laptop where the band joins in almost instrument by instrument. Better up-tempo work, something the show really needed.

Conclusion
The band has a limited playlist and seeing them again within twelve months doesn’t help either. It’s friggin’ weird: on the one hand, the show felt a bit boring and tame; on the other, you really get pulled into the excitement of the band’s excellent craftsmanship.
But that’s just not enough for me this evening.
Go see them if you get the chance, just don’t go for a second time within a year.

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# - Off to see Koop perform @De Melkweg, Amsterdam

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General Description
Artist/Band: Koop
Album Title: Koop Islands
Year: 2006

Laidback, low-brow and funfunfun!

How I Got Into This Music
Damn, can’t remember.. Must be last.fm again
Got the album from Hieronymus Fox, and well, I like their vibe!

Google Search for reviews of this album || Album details at Artistdirect.com || Answers.com ||

Tracks that got my attention:
Koop Island Blues ft. Ane Brun
What a way to start a track: the cheesiest of Mediterranean strings (I’m guessing) and harmonica; immediately setting the mood for a jazzy, French film noir kinda movie. And Miss Brun finishes it all off with that perfect hint of melancholy. Excellent flute and brass works at the end!

Come to Me ft. Yukimi Nagano
When I heard this one, early November last year, I thought it’d be the most excellent X-Mas Alternative Track. And guess what I saw during the festive season? Yep, the clip of this track.. With the incredibly stunning Miss Yukimi Nagano; a name and a face you’d simply not associate with this type of music (proving my own limited mindset of course). The track itself is such fantastic Nostalgia, love it!

Forces… Darling ft. Earl Zinger
The name Zinger doesn’t ring a bell? No? Really? Oh well.. Remember that UK band called Galliano (thanks for the heads up, HF!). Not a bad track.

I See a Different You ft. Yukimi Nagano
Second track with the sweet vocals of miss Nagano; a bit more up-tempo, a bit heavier on the string arrangements and very, very catchy!

Let’s Elope ft. Mikael Sundin
Tropical jazz with great vibes and breathy vocals.

The Moonbounce
Heh, I think this track could be defined as Classic Koop: smart, jazzy and entertaining. It always takes a bloody great amount of courage and skill to use a flute on a track without seriously pissing me off. Nice horns too.

Beyond the Son ft. Earl Zinger
This is why the combo of Koop and Earl Zinger is so bloody obvious. Great vibes and laidback keys accompanying the soft and whispery voice of Zinger, who’s telling us a weird and enchanting story. Takes me back to Galliano’s work.

Conclusion
Hmm.. While writing this review I realised that this album isn’t that good at all. Weirdly enough, if you pay too much attention to what’s being presented, you lose sight of it’s allure and the whole thing loses its attraction.
This album is excellent: these guys take classic easy-listening jazz and reboot the whole thing; and it works! Just don’t try to read too much into it; sit back, relax, dip your toe in the pool, have a sip of that tropical cocktail and enjoy the setting sun. What? You’re just sitting in your appartment on a rainy and gloomy day? This album takes away all your greys and replaces them with technicolor rainbows of mellowness. It’s not a great album, it’s a great experience!

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General Info
Festival: The Hague Jazz Festival
Location: The Hague (yep..)
When: 19 May 2007

What?
True fans of jazz in Europe (and possibly around the world) know that until last year, The North Sea Jazz Festival was held in the city of The Hague. That festival moved to lovely Rotterdam, but the people from our city of government didn’t take that change lying down, Hell No! They organised an alternative festival, same location, smaller attendance, smaller number of artists, but still full of love for the art of Jazz: the The Hague Festival was born.

The Shows
!Rhytem
Group of youngsters performing nice jazz-funk, these guys are about 18 years old, but there’s some freshness to what they bring. Their sound wasn’t set up correctly at the beginning, so their trumper player was doing his stuff without anybody being able to hear it. These little mishaps could become part of their legend in twenty years

Bennink Borstlap Gierum
Three Dutch jazz musicians who gave an incredible performance! These guys oozed classic jazz, mixing up standards with great improvisations and details. I was very happy to hear this type of jazz, high point of the day.

Marcos Valle / Brooklyn Funk Essentials
Hmmm.. Two interesting concerts, different locations, starting at the same time. Choices, choices. Went for Marcos Valle, a Brazilian National Treasure, but sadly, the gig started way late and had a lot of technical problems, so Hieronymus Fox and I went on to see that evening’s main attraction. Too bad about Brooklyn Funk Essentials too

Koop
Those wacky and talented Swedes, Koop were our closing act for the evening and boy, did they entertain the crowd! These guys mix up great feel-good jazz with mild electronics; I always reckoned they’d be limited to studio quality, but I was wrong: a full band with vibraphones, trombones and an Apple laptop. The cherry on the cake was of course the swinging vocals of miss Yukimi Nagano. Miss Nagano’s vocals were just a bit too brittle for live performance that evening, but it didn’t matter that much: Koop is a brilliant live band.

Conclusion
Great festival, the organisation did have some technical and scheduling problems, but if everything went smoothly, it probably wouldn’t be that enjoyable. I’m really a happy puppy because now I have two great jazz festivals to visit every year!

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