Together with pianist Cor Bakker, Fay Claassen released her first Christmas record at the end of 2023. The intimate record was well received and the single and remake of old time classic Let it Snow, got about 30.000 hits on Spotify in less than two weeks.
Christmas has an atmosphere of festivity, hope and warmth among loved ones. It is a time for family and togetherness, where intimacy and reflection are important. These are the perfect ingredients for vocalist and 4-time Edison Jazz winner (the Dutch Grammy’s) Fay Claassen and pianist and TV-personality Cor Bakker, to tell a musical story together. On the album Christmas Time is Here, released on the JazzJazz Records label, the duo performs well-known and classic Christmas songs in their own unique way, seamlessly complementing each other. This can be heard, for example, on the title track of the same name and embodies the blissful feeling of Christmas Eve. The original is by Vince Guaraldi, written in 1965 for the animated film A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Fay and Cor were further inspired by Karen Carpenter in Sleighride, as well as by the classic sounds of Silent Night. In addition, a touch of jazz can be heard from Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong in The Christmas Song and What A Wonderful World, and Chris Rea's hit Riding Home For Christmas has a light Latin feel.
Christmas Time Is Here also contains two Dutch songs. Fay pays tribute to her namesake, Fay Lovsky, with the modest performance Secondhand Snow (Tweedehands Sneeuw). Lovsky's poetic lyrics may change the listener's mind about how differently Christmas can be celebrated. Equally unique is the performance of The Miracle (Het Wonder), written by the well-known Dutch comedian Toon Hermans.
Fay has embraced the song Good Times as her personal anthem. She recorded it with large orchestras and big bands, but the song that her husband Paul Heller wrote especially for her, also works very well in a duo setting. Saxophone player Paul Heller (WDR big band) also produced the Christmas album, which consists of 12 songs.
Listen to the songs on Spotify.
In 2019, the Artistic Director of the Residentie Orkest The Hague, Sven Arne Tepl, invited Fay to appear as guest soloist in the concert series Symphonic Junction. The Residentie Orkest regularly collaborates with musicians from different musical directions, creating really delightful connections and really special projects.
They explored our common ground and shared musical language in this Symphonic Junction. Despite, or perhaps even because of the fact that Fay regularly work with big bands and larger ensembles and orchestras, this musical journey proved to be a unique experience. In part, it was due to the special instrumentation and the crossover with classical music. Fay was also allowed to take her own beloved band along.
Alongside some beautiful songs by Ennio Morricone, Paul Simon, Burt Bacharach and The Beatles, Symphonic Stories also contains music that is arranged by some of the finest arrangers, including Jörg Achim Keller, Magnus Lindgren, Bob Zimmerman, Ansgar Striepens and, last but not least, Roeland Jacobs. Also the record includes two of Fay's origional songs.
The record was recorded, live at PAARD venue, in the Hague during the pandemic in Winter 2021. The placement of the orchestra and the band was quite unusual: sort of opposite each other, with the conductor, Joost Geevers, in the middle and Fay beside him.
Fay Live consists of 2 LP's and 8 CD' of previously unreleased live recordings along with an extensive liner note presented in the accompanying 20-page booklet. The album contains live recordings ranging from Fay with various top orchestras, such as the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, the Metropole Orchestra and the WDR Big Band. She can also be heard in small ensemble, with her own band and with her long-term duo with national well known pianist Cor Bakker. For an impression, watch the video HERE.
Fay received here 4th (!) Edison Jazz Award for this record. Fay, all the involved musicians and the Dutch Jazz Impuls Foundation (of initatior Bob Hagen), supported charity organisations Kika Children Cancer Free and the Alzheimer Netherlands Foundation.
The concept
Without the pandemic, this album probably would never have been released, because in 2020 Fay managed for the first time in her career to dive deep into her own archive. She never listens to her own work, but now she could sit down and enjoy it. Fay: “Now that this album is released, I'm actually very proud and amazed about what I've accomplished over the past 25 years. I never dared dream that I could achieve this all. For a number of years, I have also learned to let go of the high standards I always set myself. Because that transformation has taken place, I am now able to enjoy my own music.”
This album is a live recording of a very precious musical moment for me. What you hear is exactly as it happened at that special concert. Everything felt right, the great WDR Big Band conducted by Torsten Maass with its fantastic soloists, the gorgeous arrangements, the special guest soloists I could bring from the Netherlands: Peter Tiehuis, Cor Bakker and Theo de Jong, not to mention the enthusiastic audience of the club. A Dutch ‘Friendly Takeover’ in Cologne! "
In November 2015 Fay was asked by the management of the WDR Big Band to put together a programme with music from the Netherlands. Fay got carte blanche to choose all the music and have it arranged for her and the WDR Big Band. Although she had never sung in Dutch before, she loved the idea!
Fay was very happy that she could ask some of her favorite arrangers from the Netherlands, such as Rob Horsting, Ilja Reijngoud, Joan Reinders and Henk Meutgeert, to arrange the songs, but also Torsten Maass and legendary arranger Michael Abene made their fantastic contributions.
This project is recorded live at the ”Jazz-Schmiede“, Düsseldorf on November 28th 2015.
With this album, Luck Child, a long-standing wish of Dutch jazz singer Fay Claassen is fulfilled. It is an ode to youth and beauty with a mix of old and new songs. This compilation consists mostly of songs that she has been singing for many years but has never before recorded. Famous and beloved songs like Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird,” Paul Simon’s “One Trick Pony,” Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” and songs by Burt Bacharach, and Ennio Morricone are presented alongside new compositions by Paul Heller. This is Fay Claassen’s most personal and most emotional release to date, and she will touch the listener’s heart with her beautiful voice that goes straight to the soul.
Fay Claassen: vocals
WDR Big Band & het Rundfunk Orchester
It does say a lot that Fay Claassen is recognized, worldwide, by music critics as a jazz singer of international stature and allure. The greatest jazzdiva of the Netherlands is part of the younger generation vocalists and her new cd one can call 'grand', figuratively ánd literally speaking.
First there is this immense, big orchestra that is accompanying Fay: more than 120 people. In other words this is a BIG Big Band, consisting of WDR Big Band & het Rundfunk Orchester with conducter/arranger Michael Abene. Then there is the repertoire of great female vocal icons: from Ella to Björk and a lot of other famous ladies in between. This all makes the cd a big and extraordinary musical journey around the world. The choice of repertoire makes perfectly clear that Fay Claassen has a very broad musical interest. The fact that she sings also songs of for instance Joni Mitchell and Björk is a very pleasant surprise! Her interpretations are full of conviction and with a high doses of authenticity she makes these songs totally her own.
Cadence in the USA once wrote: “Fay Claassen is to singing what Audrey Hepburn was to the movies: elegant and graceful“. These words are also applicable to this new cd, where women have the leading role. Actrice Audrey Hepburn had a enormous and natural class and that is also a very important characteristic of Fay Claassen.
CR 73301 | 0608917330120
Fay Claassen: vocal | Olaf Polziehn: piano | Ingmar Heller: bass | Hans Dekker: drums Bonus Track: Fay Claassen: vocal | Michael Abene: piano | Paul Heller: tenor saxophone.In choosing a composer like Cole Porter you have an extraordinary amount of material to pick from. Beside the more famous Porter melodies there are songs that are not performed as much such as “All Through the Night”, “Ridin´High” and “Too Darn Hot”. In writing for Piano, bass and drums I wanted to create something that was challenging to Fay and the musicians and hopefully I succeded. Fay’s sense of time, pitch and lyric interpertation made me appreciate even more (to say it again) what a wonderful artist she is. I look forward to our next project together. (Michael Abene, from liner notes)
Fay Claassen’s interpretations of the ten timeless songs on this album testify most eloquently to her great affection for the work of Cole Porter, who was arguably the most accomplished, sophisticated and prolific contributor to the Great American Songbook. The combination of innovative and unconventional arrangements by Michael Abene, and a superbly compatible trio, makes this celebration of the enduring music and lyrics of the great Cole Porter an outstanding production.
Throughout, Fay Claassen sings with the impeccable timing and faultless diction for which she is renowned She has a confidence and élan that come from ten years of live performance experience. She negotiates complex melodic lines with great facility and sings the lyrics with great conviction and feeling.
As Michael Abene says, she has a great sense of time, pitch and lyric interpretation. It takes a great deal of assurance and control to sing Love For Sale at the dead slow tempo that is featured on this album, because it is a real challenge to maintain exact pitch on sustained notes – as Fay decidedly does. Most of the tracks feature scat choruses by Fay, sometimes in highly accurate harmony or unison with bassist Ingmar Heller – as on Dream Dancing –and she handles these with tremendous flair and vitality.
In addition to their superbly integrated and sensitive accompaniment, the trio of Olaf Polziehn, Ingmar Heller and Hans Dekker all contribute fine solo choruses. (Mike Hennessey)
CR 73269 | 0608917326925
Karel Boehlee - piano
Hein van der Geyn - bass
John Engels - drums
Jan Menu bariton - sax
Jan Wessels - trumpet
BMCD 497 | 0742451549720
„STANDARDS"
Arranged and conducted by Bob Brookmeyer
Vocals – Fay Claassen
Trumpets: Eckhard Baur, Ruud Breuls, Sebastian Strempel, Thorsten Benkenstein, Torsten Maas
Trombones: Anders Wiborg, Christian Jaksjo, Dominik Stoger, Ed Partyka
Saxophones: Edgar Herzog, Marko Lackner, Nils Van Haften, Oliver Leicht, Paul Heller
Piano: Kris Goessens
Synthesizer: Hendrik Soll
Bass: Ingmar Heller
Drums: John Hollenbeck
Liner Notes – Maria Schneider
Recorded and mixed at BR Studio, 2011
Mastered at msm-Studio, Munich
© 2011 Bob Brookmeyer
An ArtistShare fan-funded project
Toots Thielemans
Mike Stern
Kenny Werner
Joe Locke a.o.
BMCD 380 | 0742451538021
Millenium Jazz Orchestra
arranged by Joan ReindersFay Claassen: vocals | Joan Reinders: conductor, arranger |
Willy van Diepen, Gerard Grobben, Gerlo Hesselink, Martin van der Horst, Job Helmers: saxophone, clarinet |
Rini Swinkels, Jan Wessels, Bert Fransen, Erik Hilferink,
Herman Nijkamp: trumpet, flugelhorn | Jeroen Rol, Henri Gerrits, Gert Nijenbanning, Eric Westerink: trombone |
Hans Kwakkernaat: piano | Bart Tarenskeen: bass |
Niek van Wiggen: drums
“Singing with a big band grabbed my imagination early on. It is difficult for me to put into words how great it is when a big band is “carrying” you, especially when you also feel bound up in an intense exchange. The first time I really experienced that combination of feelings was during a performance with The Millennium Jazz Orchestra. Contact developed with Joan
from that first time and the idea was also conceived to lay down that shared sensation on a CD. I would never have dared dream that his arrangements would turn out to be so special.
He must have been totally able to put himself in my place. In any case, he managed to give me the right musical inspiration, because in all of these arrangements he has given me the freedom to really enjoy myself.”
Barry Harris
John Ruocco
Hein van der Geyn
Marc van Roon
John Engels a.o.
CHR 70096 | 0608917009620
BMCD 487 | 0742451548723
BMCD 488 | 0742451548822
Loet van der Lee – trumpet, flugelhorn | Robert Jan Vermeulen – piano | Johan Plomp – bass |Joost Kesselaar – drums
With Special Guests :
Dale Barlow – tenor saxophone | Fay Claasen – vocals
Jesse van Ruller – guitar | Martijn Vink – drums |
Sjoerd Dijkhuizen – tenor saxophone
This recording Loet managed to blend “Both Sides” of his playing – sensitive soloing as well as displaying his strong chops. On Both Sides he also presents a true All Star line-up with internationally renowed musicians such as Dutch guitarist Jesse van Ruller and stellar Australian saxist Dale Barlow. The first song Both Sides was written with the old Louis Armstrong sound in mind. A Dixie sound with a modern drive. Boogalee was inspired by the music of the great Eddie Harris. Boogaloo music is all about groove and so is Boogalee. The solos by Dale Barlow and Loet van der Lee set the listener into a high energy pace. The third tune, Honesty introduces Jess van Ruller’s guitar and Sjoerd Dijkhuizen’s tenor sax. Played without drums, the steady pulse of Johan Plomp’s bass and the accompanying of Jesse give Loet lots of space for some romantic and free flugelhorn playing over the changes. Sjoerd’s short display is beautiful and to the point. Tippin’ Brown was inspired by a blues line played by Oacar Peterson and Freddie Hubbard on the album Face To Face and uses strong hard bop lines in the style of Clifford Brown. It’s a fast blues with solos from piano and trumpet. The tenor saxophone on this track is played by Jan Menu. Loet recorded his original I Need You on his previous album Going Walkabout as an instrumental. On the new version of this beautiful love song Loet’s own lyrics are sung by Fee Claasen, followed by a flugelhorn solo and a piano solo. Body and Soul is still one of Loet’s all time favourites. He has performed it many times in all kind of different settings and on different occasions but for this recording date he chose to play it with only Jesse van Ruller on guitar. The exciting young Dutch drummer Martijn Vink is featured on Secret Prayers. With it’s different tempos, dynamics, grooves and sounds Secret Prayers is like a mirror of the ever changing human mind. The composition was inspired by Lee Morgan’s Search Of The New Land. The old standard There Goes My Heart is the only tune that uses six musicians. Although basically known as a ballad, here the song is transformed into a hard driven swinging up tempo version. Fee Claasen sings the melody, chased by the tenor sax of Sjoerd Dijkhuizen and the muted trumpet of Loet van der Lee. Pianist Robert Jan Vermeulen plays a beautiful solo to introduce Joanna’s Waltz, written by the German piano player Frank Wunsch. The theme is played on flugelhorn, joined in the second half by Dale Barlow’s tenor sax. The first solo is played by bassist Johan Plomp, followed by Loet on flugelhorn and Dale on tenor. The album’s closer is Lee Morgan’s Desert Moonlight. This is one of Lee Morgan’s great compositions, smoothly played by Sjoerd, Jesse, Johan, Martijn and Loet himself. All in all a great display by some of the most incredible jazz talent available in the Netherlands nowadays.
Ilja Reijngoud, Fay Claassen, Martijn van Iterson, Marius Beets, Marcel Serierse, Paul Heller
ACDHJ 0352 | 8717775550341
An incredible cd with mostly duos and some beautiful trios with Fay Claassen. Jan Verwey has a quiet, thoughtful approach and plays a lot of bebop-oriented lines. He derives inspiration from musicians playing bebop and beyond, among them Tom Harrell, Phil Woods, Jim McNeely and (not surprisingly) Bert van den Brink. Playing with Bert together on this cd Jan Verwey sees as a wonderful gift.
Jan Verwey: harmonica
Bert van den Brink: piano
Fay Claassen: vocals
At 73, Dutch harmonica expert Jan Verwey is still growing as a musician every day. Listening to a concert recording he made half a year ago, he keeps saying to himself: “I can do better now.”
A couple of years ago, he says, it would never have entered his mind to ask Bert van den Brink to record a session consisting mostly of duets. (The 50-year old piano virtuoso with a classical background, is well-known for lengthy associations with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Toots Thielemans, Philip Catherine and others.) “Bert is a giant on his instrument, and I thought he was out of my league. But at the concerts we did, he repeatedly said he loved the way I listen to him and react to his improvisations.”
Both are empathic musicians with great ears and fast reflexes. Like Bert, Jan can make incredible runs sound easy.
Jan’s instrument – the chromatic harmonica – is more complex than it looks. “It has twelve tiny holes, and each of these can produce four notes: the first by blowing, the second by inhaling air, and the third and the fourth by doing the same with a side-button pushed in.” Coordinating all that demands the precision of a watchmaker, especially when you’re blowing choruses on fast bebop changes.
The idea to record with just piano – adding singer Fay Claassen on some tracks – came partially from Chet Baker, who showed Jan you can make swinging intimate music without drums. In 2007, Jan accepted an invitation to perform at several Canadian jazz festivals with just Jilian Lebeck on piano and Paul Rushka on bass. “After a concert in Medicine Hat, we got a standing ovation from around 600 people. They clapped for 12 minutes; it was almost embarrassing. When I finally returned to my dressing room, the promoter said: ‘You have to go to the lounge; people are standing in line to buy your latest CD.’ So I sat down to sell and autograph my records; I felt like a bestseller author.”
After that experience, he resolved to keep his next recording sessions small and intimate, to make music with a fragile air. “The two days in the studio were pretty relaxed. Bert and I don’t need a rhythm section; we keep time in our heads.” Jan picked the songs, including “Stella by Starlight,” done as a fast waltz for once, and “It’s a Dance” by the late Michel Petrucciani, a French pianist he greatly admires.
Fay Claassen, a singer who never wastes a note and never raises her voice, is a multi-faceted artist, able to scat in a Chet Baker-like manner but also to interpret a lyric, making every word count. It was Suzie Scraggs-Van de Geyn who wrote the words to Fay’s rendition of Charlie Parker’s solo in “Perhaps”.
But it was Bert’s suggestion that they also record some free improvisations: “Just sit down and play.” Jan: “I said it was all right by me, as long as we didn’t make the tracks too long. And I did propose we start in D-minor. Before we knew it, we’d recorded five tracks! That’s the kind of session it was.”
Fay Claassen - vocals, Maarten Ornstein - clarinet, bass clarinet, tarogatoTony Overwater - acoustic bassJoost Lijbaart - drums, percussion
Faces of China was recorded as music for the documentary Faces of China by Brigit Hillenius. The music and documentary tell the story of three dissident Chinese Poets. A videoclip is included with some of the material of the documentary.
JIM 75148 | 0608917514827
David Linx & Diederik Wissels meet Fay Claassen & Maria Pia de Vito
EM 0504 | 0826596031040
Carolyn Breuer / Fee Claassen quintet
CHR 70017 | 8712604700171
Why Shouldn't I - Erik Doelman Septet ft. John Marshall & Fay Claassen
Playground - Amsterdam Jazz Quintet
CHR 70071 | 0608917007121
Crush - Live in Brussels 2008 - Ivan Paduart & The Metropole Orchestra
MR 874495 | 4260054554959
Ivan Paduart: piano, synthesizer | Fay Claassen: vocals | David Linx: vocals | Toon Roos: tenor & sop. saxophone | Philippe Aerts: double bass | Joost van Schaik: drums
More than 15 years in the meantime I practice the astonishing profession named musician. From the very beginning I was heavily tempted in writing my own compositions and moreover going through the pleasure thereafter of the attraction in performing my own pieces in public.
Originally inspired by classical music I discovered at last that jazz was the most perfect way making my music as valuable as possible. The variety of so many different shapes, rhythms, harmonies and above all things the endlessness offered by improvisation that gave me the belief that everything was possible even playing wrong notes. Preferring to play in a trio setting the strongest satisfaction given to me was writing compositions for musicians chosen by myself as Tom Harrell, Bob Malach, Toots Thielemans, Richard Galliano, Charlie Mariano, Rick Margitza and Toon Roos.
As I met Bob Hagen in 2001, I was touched by his enthusiastic readiness to support musicians provided that he admired their qualities. His support and unshakable belief in my values as a
composer he made several projects and important concerts possible for me. On behalf of this album I invited two special vocalists both so very much admired European male and female singer David Linx and Fay Claassen. (Ivan Paduart, liner notes)
The Jazz Impulse Foundation was founded for the purpose of supporting musicians deserving greater recognition. During the quality selection there is a careful assessment considering opportunities and possibilities for the future success of these musicians. Ivan has the ability to compose in such an unexpected way that he is always recognizable in his work in a way nobody else does. His pieces, never superficial and never dull, are surprisingly lucid.
Every new composition again is an unbelievable experience, and many great and well known jazz musicians are always willing to play with him and of course especially his beautiful compositions. My very firm believe is that sometime in the future Ivan will unmistakably reach the status of a famous composer.
Next to the instrumental quartet pieces in which the marvelous playing Toon Roos on saxophone proves his unbelievable musical and lyrical intelligence there is also a solo piece in which Ivan proves consistently his fresh ideas. But the overtone on this album is dominated by two singers, both together or individually singing: Fay Claassen and David Linx who made individually already many cd’s. Without doubt you are within a few minutes convinced that here are gathered two of the best jazz singers of Europe with highly artistic repertoire. Though they both are qualified improvising soloists on this cd they don’t do that. They will impress you with a vivid blend of their vocal qualities with a number of not easy listening songs. For advanced music inquisitives these singers take their chances to the full extend to lead them to the limits of full admiration.
BMCD 75391 | 0608917539127
BMCD 395 | 0742451539523
Together with pianist Cor Bakker, Fay Claassen released her first Christmas record at the end of 2023. The intimate record was well received and the single and remake of old time classic Let it Snow, got about 30.000 hits on Spotify in less than two weeks.
Christmas has an atmosphere of festivity, hope and warmth among loved ones. It is a time for family and togetherness, where intimacy and reflection are important. These are the perfect ingredients for vocalist and 4-time Edison Jazz winner (the Dutch Grammy’s) Fay Claassen and pianist and TV-personality Cor Bakker, to tell a musical story together. On the album Christmas Time is Here, released on the JazzJazz Records label, the duo performs well-known and classic Christmas songs in their own unique way, seamlessly complementing each other. This can be heard, for example, on the title track of the same name and embodies the blissful feeling of Christmas Eve. The original is by Vince Guaraldi, written in 1965 for the animated film A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Fay and Cor were further inspired by Karen Carpenter in Sleighride, as well as by the classic sounds of Silent Night. In addition, a touch of jazz can be heard from Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong in The Christmas Song and What A Wonderful World, and Chris Rea's hit Riding Home For Christmas has a light Latin feel.
Christmas Time Is Here also contains two Dutch songs. Fay pays tribute to her namesake, Fay Lovsky, with the modest performance Secondhand Snow (Tweedehands Sneeuw). Lovsky's poetic lyrics may change the listener's mind about how differently Christmas can be celebrated. Equally unique is the performance of The Miracle (Het Wonder), written by the well-known Dutch comedian Toon Hermans.
Fay has embraced the song Good Times as her personal anthem. She recorded it with large orchestras and big bands, but the song that her husband Paul Heller wrote especially for her, also works very well in a duo setting. Saxophone player Paul Heller (WDR big band) also produced the Christmas album, which consists of 12 songs.
Listen to the songs on Spotify.
In 2019, the Artistic Director of the Residentie Orkest The Hague, Sven Arne Tepl, invited Fay to appear as guest soloist in the concert series Symphonic Junction. The Residentie Orkest regularly collaborates with musicians from different musical directions, creating really delightful connections and really special projects.
They explored our common ground and shared musical language in this Symphonic Junction. Despite, or perhaps even because of the fact that Fay regularly work with big bands and larger ensembles and orchestras, this musical journey proved to be a unique experience. In part, it was due to the special instrumentation and the crossover with classical music. Fay was also allowed to take her own beloved band along.
Alongside some beautiful songs by Ennio Morricone, Paul Simon, Burt Bacharach and The Beatles, Symphonic Stories also contains music that is arranged by some of the finest arrangers, including Jörg Achim Keller, Magnus Lindgren, Bob Zimmerman, Ansgar Striepens and, last but not least, Roeland Jacobs. Also the record includes two of Fay's origional songs.
The record was recorded, live at PAARD venue, in the Hague during the pandemic in Winter 2021. The placement of the orchestra and the band was quite unusual: sort of opposite each other, with the conductor, Joost Geevers, in the middle and Fay beside him.
Fay Live consists of 2 LP's and 8 CD' of previously unreleased live recordings along with an extensive liner note presented in the accompanying 20-page booklet. The album contains live recordings ranging from Fay with various top orchestras, such as the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, the Metropole Orchestra and the WDR Big Band. She can also be heard in small ensemble, with her own band and with her long-term duo with national well known pianist Cor Bakker. For an impression, watch the video HERE.
Fay received here 4th (!) Edison Jazz Award for this record. Fay, all the involved musicians and the Dutch Jazz Impuls Foundation (of initatior Bob Hagen), supported charity organisations Kika Children Cancer Free and the Alzheimer Netherlands Foundation.
The concept
Without the pandemic, this album probably would never have been released, because in 2020 Fay managed for the first time in her career to dive deep into her own archive. She never listens to her own work, but now she could sit down and enjoy it. Fay: “Now that this album is released, I'm actually very proud and amazed about what I've accomplished over the past 25 years. I never dared dream that I could achieve this all. For a number of years, I have also learned to let go of the high standards I always set myself. Because that transformation has taken place, I am now able to enjoy my own music.”
This album is a live recording of a very precious musical moment for me. What you hear is exactly as it happened at that special concert. Everything felt right, the great WDR Big Band conducted by Torsten Maass with its fantastic soloists, the gorgeous arrangements, the special guest soloists I could bring from the Netherlands: Peter Tiehuis, Cor Bakker and Theo de Jong, not to mention the enthusiastic audience of the club. A Dutch ‘Friendly Takeover’ in Cologne! "
In November 2015 Fay was asked by the management of the WDR Big Band to put together a programme with music from the Netherlands. Fay got carte blanche to choose all the music and have it arranged for her and the WDR Big Band. Although she had never sung in Dutch before, she loved the idea!
Fay was very happy that she could ask some of her favorite arrangers from the Netherlands, such as Rob Horsting, Ilja Reijngoud, Joan Reinders and Henk Meutgeert, to arrange the songs, but also Torsten Maass and legendary arranger Michael Abene made their fantastic contributions.
This project is recorded live at the ”Jazz-Schmiede“, Düsseldorf on November 28th 2015.
With this album, Luck Child, a long-standing wish of Dutch jazz singer Fay Claassen is fulfilled. It is an ode to youth and beauty with a mix of old and new songs. This compilation consists mostly of songs that she has been singing for many years but has never before recorded. Famous and beloved songs like Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird,” Paul Simon’s “One Trick Pony,” Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” and songs by Burt Bacharach, and Ennio Morricone are presented alongside new compositions by Paul Heller. This is Fay Claassen’s most personal and most emotional release to date, and she will touch the listener’s heart with her beautiful voice that goes straight to the soul.
Fay Claassen: vocals
WDR Big Band & het Rundfunk Orchester
It does say a lot that Fay Claassen is recognized, worldwide, by music critics as a jazz singer of international stature and allure. The greatest jazzdiva of the Netherlands is part of the younger generation vocalists and her new cd one can call 'grand', figuratively ánd literally speaking.
First there is this immense, big orchestra that is accompanying Fay: more than 120 people. In other words this is a BIG Big Band, consisting of WDR Big Band & het Rundfunk Orchester with conducter/arranger Michael Abene. Then there is the repertoire of great female vocal icons: from Ella to Björk and a lot of other famous ladies in between. This all makes the cd a big and extraordinary musical journey around the world. The choice of repertoire makes perfectly clear that Fay Claassen has a very broad musical interest. The fact that she sings also songs of for instance Joni Mitchell and Björk is a very pleasant surprise! Her interpretations are full of conviction and with a high doses of authenticity she makes these songs totally her own.
Cadence in the USA once wrote: “Fay Claassen is to singing what Audrey Hepburn was to the movies: elegant and graceful“. These words are also applicable to this new cd, where women have the leading role. Actrice Audrey Hepburn had a enormous and natural class and that is also a very important characteristic of Fay Claassen.
CR 73301 | 0608917330120
Fay Claassen: vocal | Olaf Polziehn: piano | Ingmar Heller: bass | Hans Dekker: drums Bonus Track: Fay Claassen: vocal | Michael Abene: piano | Paul Heller: tenor saxophone.In choosing a composer like Cole Porter you have an extraordinary amount of material to pick from. Beside the more famous Porter melodies there are songs that are not performed as much such as “All Through the Night”, “Ridin´High” and “Too Darn Hot”. In writing for Piano, bass and drums I wanted to create something that was challenging to Fay and the musicians and hopefully I succeded. Fay’s sense of time, pitch and lyric interpertation made me appreciate even more (to say it again) what a wonderful artist she is. I look forward to our next project together. (Michael Abene, from liner notes)
Fay Claassen’s interpretations of the ten timeless songs on this album testify most eloquently to her great affection for the work of Cole Porter, who was arguably the most accomplished, sophisticated and prolific contributor to the Great American Songbook. The combination of innovative and unconventional arrangements by Michael Abene, and a superbly compatible trio, makes this celebration of the enduring music and lyrics of the great Cole Porter an outstanding production.
Throughout, Fay Claassen sings with the impeccable timing and faultless diction for which she is renowned She has a confidence and élan that come from ten years of live performance experience. She negotiates complex melodic lines with great facility and sings the lyrics with great conviction and feeling.
As Michael Abene says, she has a great sense of time, pitch and lyric interpretation. It takes a great deal of assurance and control to sing Love For Sale at the dead slow tempo that is featured on this album, because it is a real challenge to maintain exact pitch on sustained notes – as Fay decidedly does. Most of the tracks feature scat choruses by Fay, sometimes in highly accurate harmony or unison with bassist Ingmar Heller – as on Dream Dancing –and she handles these with tremendous flair and vitality.
In addition to their superbly integrated and sensitive accompaniment, the trio of Olaf Polziehn, Ingmar Heller and Hans Dekker all contribute fine solo choruses. (Mike Hennessey)
CR 73269 | 0608917326925
Karel Boehlee - piano
Hein van der Geyn - bass
John Engels - drums
Jan Menu bariton - sax
Jan Wessels - trumpet
BMCD 497 | 0742451549720
„STANDARDS"
Arranged and conducted by Bob Brookmeyer
Vocals – Fay Claassen
Trumpets: Eckhard Baur, Ruud Breuls, Sebastian Strempel, Thorsten Benkenstein, Torsten Maas
Trombones: Anders Wiborg, Christian Jaksjo, Dominik Stoger, Ed Partyka
Saxophones: Edgar Herzog, Marko Lackner, Nils Van Haften, Oliver Leicht, Paul Heller
Piano: Kris Goessens
Synthesizer: Hendrik Soll
Bass: Ingmar Heller
Drums: John Hollenbeck
Liner Notes – Maria Schneider
Recorded and mixed at BR Studio, 2011
Mastered at msm-Studio, Munich
© 2011 Bob Brookmeyer
An ArtistShare fan-funded project
Toots Thielemans
Mike Stern
Kenny Werner
Joe Locke a.o.
BMCD 380 | 0742451538021
Millenium Jazz Orchestra
arranged by Joan ReindersFay Claassen: vocals | Joan Reinders: conductor, arranger |
Willy van Diepen, Gerard Grobben, Gerlo Hesselink, Martin van der Horst, Job Helmers: saxophone, clarinet |
Rini Swinkels, Jan Wessels, Bert Fransen, Erik Hilferink,
Herman Nijkamp: trumpet, flugelhorn | Jeroen Rol, Henri Gerrits, Gert Nijenbanning, Eric Westerink: trombone |
Hans Kwakkernaat: piano | Bart Tarenskeen: bass |
Niek van Wiggen: drums
“Singing with a big band grabbed my imagination early on. It is difficult for me to put into words how great it is when a big band is “carrying” you, especially when you also feel bound up in an intense exchange. The first time I really experienced that combination of feelings was during a performance with The Millennium Jazz Orchestra. Contact developed with Joan
from that first time and the idea was also conceived to lay down that shared sensation on a CD. I would never have dared dream that his arrangements would turn out to be so special.
He must have been totally able to put himself in my place. In any case, he managed to give me the right musical inspiration, because in all of these arrangements he has given me the freedom to really enjoy myself.”
Barry Harris
John Ruocco
Hein van der Geyn
Marc van Roon
John Engels a.o.
CHR 70096 | 0608917009620
BMCD 487 | 0742451548723
BMCD 488 | 0742451548822
Loet van der Lee – trumpet, flugelhorn | Robert Jan Vermeulen – piano | Johan Plomp – bass |Joost Kesselaar – drums
With Special Guests :
Dale Barlow – tenor saxophone | Fay Claasen – vocals
Jesse van Ruller – guitar | Martijn Vink – drums |
Sjoerd Dijkhuizen – tenor saxophone
This recording Loet managed to blend “Both Sides” of his playing – sensitive soloing as well as displaying his strong chops. On Both Sides he also presents a true All Star line-up with internationally renowed musicians such as Dutch guitarist Jesse van Ruller and stellar Australian saxist Dale Barlow. The first song Both Sides was written with the old Louis Armstrong sound in mind. A Dixie sound with a modern drive. Boogalee was inspired by the music of the great Eddie Harris. Boogaloo music is all about groove and so is Boogalee. The solos by Dale Barlow and Loet van der Lee set the listener into a high energy pace. The third tune, Honesty introduces Jess van Ruller’s guitar and Sjoerd Dijkhuizen’s tenor sax. Played without drums, the steady pulse of Johan Plomp’s bass and the accompanying of Jesse give Loet lots of space for some romantic and free flugelhorn playing over the changes. Sjoerd’s short display is beautiful and to the point. Tippin’ Brown was inspired by a blues line played by Oacar Peterson and Freddie Hubbard on the album Face To Face and uses strong hard bop lines in the style of Clifford Brown. It’s a fast blues with solos from piano and trumpet. The tenor saxophone on this track is played by Jan Menu. Loet recorded his original I Need You on his previous album Going Walkabout as an instrumental. On the new version of this beautiful love song Loet’s own lyrics are sung by Fee Claasen, followed by a flugelhorn solo and a piano solo. Body and Soul is still one of Loet’s all time favourites. He has performed it many times in all kind of different settings and on different occasions but for this recording date he chose to play it with only Jesse van Ruller on guitar. The exciting young Dutch drummer Martijn Vink is featured on Secret Prayers. With it’s different tempos, dynamics, grooves and sounds Secret Prayers is like a mirror of the ever changing human mind. The composition was inspired by Lee Morgan’s Search Of The New Land. The old standard There Goes My Heart is the only tune that uses six musicians. Although basically known as a ballad, here the song is transformed into a hard driven swinging up tempo version. Fee Claasen sings the melody, chased by the tenor sax of Sjoerd Dijkhuizen and the muted trumpet of Loet van der Lee. Pianist Robert Jan Vermeulen plays a beautiful solo to introduce Joanna’s Waltz, written by the German piano player Frank Wunsch. The theme is played on flugelhorn, joined in the second half by Dale Barlow’s tenor sax. The first solo is played by bassist Johan Plomp, followed by Loet on flugelhorn and Dale on tenor. The album’s closer is Lee Morgan’s Desert Moonlight. This is one of Lee Morgan’s great compositions, smoothly played by Sjoerd, Jesse, Johan, Martijn and Loet himself. All in all a great display by some of the most incredible jazz talent available in the Netherlands nowadays.
Ilja Reijngoud, Fay Claassen, Martijn van Iterson, Marius Beets, Marcel Serierse, Paul Heller
ACDHJ 0352 | 8717775550341
An incredible cd with mostly duos and some beautiful trios with Fay Claassen. Jan Verwey has a quiet, thoughtful approach and plays a lot of bebop-oriented lines. He derives inspiration from musicians playing bebop and beyond, among them Tom Harrell, Phil Woods, Jim McNeely and (not surprisingly) Bert van den Brink. Playing with Bert together on this cd Jan Verwey sees as a wonderful gift.
Jan Verwey: harmonica
Bert van den Brink: piano
Fay Claassen: vocals
At 73, Dutch harmonica expert Jan Verwey is still growing as a musician every day. Listening to a concert recording he made half a year ago, he keeps saying to himself: “I can do better now.”
A couple of years ago, he says, it would never have entered his mind to ask Bert van den Brink to record a session consisting mostly of duets. (The 50-year old piano virtuoso with a classical background, is well-known for lengthy associations with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Toots Thielemans, Philip Catherine and others.) “Bert is a giant on his instrument, and I thought he was out of my league. But at the concerts we did, he repeatedly said he loved the way I listen to him and react to his improvisations.”
Both are empathic musicians with great ears and fast reflexes. Like Bert, Jan can make incredible runs sound easy.
Jan’s instrument – the chromatic harmonica – is more complex than it looks. “It has twelve tiny holes, and each of these can produce four notes: the first by blowing, the second by inhaling air, and the third and the fourth by doing the same with a side-button pushed in.” Coordinating all that demands the precision of a watchmaker, especially when you’re blowing choruses on fast bebop changes.
The idea to record with just piano – adding singer Fay Claassen on some tracks – came partially from Chet Baker, who showed Jan you can make swinging intimate music without drums. In 2007, Jan accepted an invitation to perform at several Canadian jazz festivals with just Jilian Lebeck on piano and Paul Rushka on bass. “After a concert in Medicine Hat, we got a standing ovation from around 600 people. They clapped for 12 minutes; it was almost embarrassing. When I finally returned to my dressing room, the promoter said: ‘You have to go to the lounge; people are standing in line to buy your latest CD.’ So I sat down to sell and autograph my records; I felt like a bestseller author.”
After that experience, he resolved to keep his next recording sessions small and intimate, to make music with a fragile air. “The two days in the studio were pretty relaxed. Bert and I don’t need a rhythm section; we keep time in our heads.” Jan picked the songs, including “Stella by Starlight,” done as a fast waltz for once, and “It’s a Dance” by the late Michel Petrucciani, a French pianist he greatly admires.
Fay Claassen, a singer who never wastes a note and never raises her voice, is a multi-faceted artist, able to scat in a Chet Baker-like manner but also to interpret a lyric, making every word count. It was Suzie Scraggs-Van de Geyn who wrote the words to Fay’s rendition of Charlie Parker’s solo in “Perhaps”.
But it was Bert’s suggestion that they also record some free improvisations: “Just sit down and play.” Jan: “I said it was all right by me, as long as we didn’t make the tracks too long. And I did propose we start in D-minor. Before we knew it, we’d recorded five tracks! That’s the kind of session it was.”
Fay Claassen - vocals, Maarten Ornstein - clarinet, bass clarinet, tarogatoTony Overwater - acoustic bassJoost Lijbaart - drums, percussion
Faces of China was recorded as music for the documentary Faces of China by Brigit Hillenius. The music and documentary tell the story of three dissident Chinese Poets. A videoclip is included with some of the material of the documentary.
JIM 75148 | 0608917514827
David Linx & Diederik Wissels meet Fay Claassen & Maria Pia de Vito
EM 0504 | 0826596031040
Carolyn Breuer / Fee Claassen quintet
CHR 70017 | 8712604700171
Why Shouldn't I - Erik Doelman Septet ft. John Marshall & Fay Claassen
Playground - Amsterdam Jazz Quintet
CHR 70071 | 0608917007121
Crush - Live in Brussels 2008 - Ivan Paduart & The Metropole Orchestra
MR 874495 | 4260054554959
Ivan Paduart: piano, synthesizer | Fay Claassen: vocals | David Linx: vocals | Toon Roos: tenor & sop. saxophone | Philippe Aerts: double bass | Joost van Schaik: drums
More than 15 years in the meantime I practice the astonishing profession named musician. From the very beginning I was heavily tempted in writing my own compositions and moreover going through the pleasure thereafter of the attraction in performing my own pieces in public.
Originally inspired by classical music I discovered at last that jazz was the most perfect way making my music as valuable as possible. The variety of so many different shapes, rhythms, harmonies and above all things the endlessness offered by improvisation that gave me the belief that everything was possible even playing wrong notes. Preferring to play in a trio setting the strongest satisfaction given to me was writing compositions for musicians chosen by myself as Tom Harrell, Bob Malach, Toots Thielemans, Richard Galliano, Charlie Mariano, Rick Margitza and Toon Roos.
As I met Bob Hagen in 2001, I was touched by his enthusiastic readiness to support musicians provided that he admired their qualities. His support and unshakable belief in my values as a
composer he made several projects and important concerts possible for me. On behalf of this album I invited two special vocalists both so very much admired European male and female singer David Linx and Fay Claassen. (Ivan Paduart, liner notes)
The Jazz Impulse Foundation was founded for the purpose of supporting musicians deserving greater recognition. During the quality selection there is a careful assessment considering opportunities and possibilities for the future success of these musicians. Ivan has the ability to compose in such an unexpected way that he is always recognizable in his work in a way nobody else does. His pieces, never superficial and never dull, are surprisingly lucid.
Every new composition again is an unbelievable experience, and many great and well known jazz musicians are always willing to play with him and of course especially his beautiful compositions. My very firm believe is that sometime in the future Ivan will unmistakably reach the status of a famous composer.
Next to the instrumental quartet pieces in which the marvelous playing Toon Roos on saxophone proves his unbelievable musical and lyrical intelligence there is also a solo piece in which Ivan proves consistently his fresh ideas. But the overtone on this album is dominated by two singers, both together or individually singing: Fay Claassen and David Linx who made individually already many cd’s. Without doubt you are within a few minutes convinced that here are gathered two of the best jazz singers of Europe with highly artistic repertoire. Though they both are qualified improvising soloists on this cd they don’t do that. They will impress you with a vivid blend of their vocal qualities with a number of not easy listening songs. For advanced music inquisitives these singers take their chances to the full extend to lead them to the limits of full admiration.
BMCD 75391 | 0608917539127
BMCD 395 | 0742451539523