SCENE SCRIBE
By Michael Swanger scenescribe@mchsi.com
Dutch jazz trumpeter blows horn his own way
When you think of jazz trumpet, you think of masters like Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Wynton Marsalis… American artists who helped shape the recognized sound of their instrument and genre.
But when you listen to the music of Dutch jazz trumpeter Eric Vloeimans, you not only hear traces of the aforementioned artists, but several classical European artists, too.
“I don’t necessarily feel like a jazz trumpeter, and I do not play the music like it was founded in America,” said Vloeimans in an e-mail last week from his homeland before leaving for a tour of the United States that includes his first-ever stop in Iowa at the Jewish Federation’s Caspe Terrace in Waukee on Tuesday, March 2.
“I did study the history and listened to the great players from your country. This brought me a lot of knowledge and inspiration. Your people went all over the whole world to play the music, and it touched and influenced the audiences and fellow musicians,” said Vloeimans, who began playing trumpet at age 12 and studied at the Rotterdam Conservatory and the New School in New York City.
But perhaps the most valuable lesson the 46-year-old musician learned from American jazz masters was to play from the heart.
“Everybody lives in their own culture and does their own thing with it. My music is mixed with African-American roots, which makes the music much richer. But at a certain point you can’t define the music anymore because I am from a middle-class European family. My father was a factory worker at the Heineken Brewery, and I grew up listening to classical music. So I go simply for what and who I am and try to mix and blend my musical roots the way they have been formed by my brain and intuition,” he said, before quipping, “The government will not throw you out of the country by playing a few ‘wrong’ notes.”
In Vloeimans’ case, the government has even acted on his behalf.
A few months ago, local jazz promoter Abe Goldstien told Scene Scribe that he had received a call from Vloeimans’ manager about working with the Dutch government to present his concert in Waukee. Turns out the manager heard about Caspe Terrace from a Nebraska jazz fan who had attended every one of Goldstien’s eclectic jazz concerts and raved about her experiences.
“Bringing a different kind of jazz to central Iowa is truly a labor of love for my wife and I,” said Goldstien, whose most recent show was another international artist, Israeli pianist Anat Fort.
As with previous shows at the Caspe Terrace, Vloeimans’ performance will not be the “run-of-the-mill” jazz concert. His trio, Fugimundi, also includes guitarist Anton Goudsmit and pianist Harmen Fraanje. Its name means, “flight out of this world.”
“I go for the people, not the puppets,” Vloeimans said of Fugimundi’s lineup.
That, in a nutshell, is at the heart of every good review Fugimundi receives for its live and recorded performances. “They can do whatever they want on their respective instruments,” wrote one reviewer.
Speaking of which, Vloeimans last year recorded two albums. The first, “Live at Yoshi’s,” released by Fugimundi, includes “Corleone,” a song inspired by the movie “Godfather,” as well as the bouncing “March of the Carpenter Ants” and the lone standard, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Vloeimans’ second album, “Heavens Above!,” recorded by his electric band Gatecrash, will soon be released in the United States.
This year, Vloeimans is set to work with jazz pianist Wayne Horvitz. He is also working on his own concert series and festival to be held in Amsterdam. And he will work as a guest soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra there.
Meanwhile, though, Vloeimans said he is looking forward to making his debut Iowa performance.
“I hope Iowans have a pearl in their heart,” he said. CV
Caption: Eric Vloeimans performs Tuesday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Caspe Terrace in Waukee. Advance tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students, or $25 at the door. Call 279-6452 or e-mail abe@trilixgroup.com.
