INTERNATIONAL BOOGIE WOOGIE FESTIVAL HOLLAND 2012


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The International Boogie Woogie Festival Holland 2012 takes place on Saturday March 17th 2012 in Hotel Heerlickheijd van Ermelo.

The show starts at 20:00 PM and ends at 0:00 AM.

 

Grande Finale International Boogie Woogie Festival

Artists

The festival offers a varied program with some of the world's very best artists in the Boogie Woogie genre.

The musical styles range from authentic Boogie Woogie to early Barrelhouse and Blues Piano and from Rhythm 'n Blues and Jazz to Rock 'n Roll.

 


Martijn Schok Boogie & Blues Band

The band members of the Martijn Schok Boogie & Blues Band will accompany the artists during the festival evening.

Martijn Schok (piano)
Rinus Groeneveld (tenor saxophone)
Greta Holtrop (vocals)
Maarten Kruijswijk (drums)
Hans Ruigrok (bass)
With Special Guest: Stephan Jankowski (guitar)

 


Martijn Schok Boogie & Blues Band


Leon Blue (piano/vocals, USA)

Born in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1931 Leon Blue is undeniably one of the finest blues piano men alive on the music scene today. For over six decades Blue has tickled the ivory and wowed audiences all over the world. The company he's kept speaks volumes about his talent, professionalism, stamina and versatility as a musician. He has spent lengthy spells with artist like The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Lowell Fulson, Albert Collins and many many more.

Leon was first inspired to play piano in 1940 after hearing records of the pounding boogie-woogie of Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, and also early live performances by fellow Texan Charles Brown. By 1955 Leon and his three brothers, all also musicians, had relocated to Los Angeles and were performing as The Four Scooters. Leon began making connections with the who's who of the bustling L.A. blues scene, and over the next three decades played and recorded with some of the biggest names active on the west coast (and elsewhere), including B.B. King, Albert King (who he says hired and fired him three different times), Roy Milton, Fats Washington, Little Joe Blue, and many others. Leon even played fill-in gig in L.A. with Chicago blues great Muddy Waters, when Muddy's regular pianist Pinetop Perkins missed his plane; he says when Pinetop finally arrived, Muddy didn't want to hire him back!

All of this in addition to being a regular member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue during their most successful years, from 1964 until 1978.

Although he relocated to Las Vegas in the early 1990s, he hasn't slowed down bit. He's continued to tour regularly when his old friends like Roy Gaines, Sonny Rhodes or Phillip Walker call, and is frequently in L.A. for gigs and recording sessions, tickling the ivories or pounding out a boogie as needed. But it wasn't until The Mannish Boys sessions in 2004 that Leon got a chance to show off his 'secret weapon' on record for the very first time - a warm and husky blues voice, that we're sure to hear more of in the future.
 


Angela Brown (vocals, USA)

Angela Brown Angela Brown is certainly a Blues Diva – „raucous, raunchy and rumbustious“ are just some of the words used to describe this great singer. Born in Chicago, Illinois.

Angela began her musical career by singing gospel music in church and performing with school choirs. And, although she was aware of the blues, she didn't devote herself to singing them until around 1980, when she played the role of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey in a stage musical.

Inspired by the music, she worked, honing her craft, in numerous Chicago blues clubs, often accompanied by pianists Little Brother Montgomery, Erwin Helfer or Lovie Lee, or sharing the stage with her music friends, the likes of ..Blind.. John Davis, Pinetop Perkins, B.B. King, Georgie Fame, Long John Baldry…the list goes on.

Her Debut recordings were released by the Red Beans label in 1983, and the first album under her own name was made in 1987 for the German label, Schubert Records.

She was dubbed “The Bessie Smith of the Eighties” and later the 90..s, a deserved title given her strong renditions of vaudeville blues material. Her powerful voice is also well-suited to more modern blues and jazz styles, becoming a popular attraction at festivals all over the world; not only vocally, but for her onstage presence and oomph!! Angela has been included in The Guinness Book, ..Who..s Who of Blues.., and the new ..Virgin..s Encyclopedia of the Blues... Making her one of the few Living Legends in Blues Music today.

Angela will be accompanied by Christian Rannenberg (piano, GER).

 



Christian Rannenberg (piano, GER)

Christian Rannenberg (piano, vocals) was born in Solingen, Germany. He learned his Blues directly from the Blues piano masters Blind John Davis, Henry Gray, Willie Mabon and Sunny Land Slim when he was working as driver/tour manager for Rolf Schubert's booking agency. He was a founding member of "Blues Company", one of Germany's best known Blues bands. He also cooperated with German Blues band "Das Dritte Ohr". With this band, he did tours backing up Billy Boy Arnold, J.B. Hutto and Eddy Clearwater.

Encouraged by Eddy Clearwater and Sunny Land Slim, Christian moved to Chicago in 1982, where he fell in with the still hustling and bustling Blues scene. He landed a gig with John Littlejohn's band and worked the Delta Fish Market on Jackson&Kedzie every Friday and Saturday afternoon, as well as working with Jimmy Rogers, Sam Lay, Lefty Dizz and others and touring the U.S. and Canada with their bands. While in Chicago, he teamed up with tenor saxophonist Detroit Gary Wiggins to form the "International Blues Duo", also often working as quartett with bassist Aron Burton and drummer Robert Covington.

In 1983, the Duo went to Europe, working the clubs and festivals, quickly becoming an established act on the scene. They did tours with, a.o., Aron and Larry Burton, Charlie Musselwhite, Angela Brown, Guitar Crusher, John Heartsman and Big Jay McNeely and recorded two LPs.
In 1990, Christian moved to California and settled in the San Francisco Bay area, where he worked with Cool Papa and the Survival Band, Birdlegg and the Tight Fit Blues Band, Jimi Mamou and many more. He hooked up with the great Buddy Ace with whom he toured the so called Chitlin' Circuit in the American south as well as Europe later on.

From 1991 on, Christian was working out of Europe again, recording an award winning duo album with Big Jay McNeely on the Acoustic Music label. He formed his own band, the "First Class Blues Band" with Jan Hirte (g); Thomas Feldmann (Sax,harp); Kevin DuVernay (b) and Tommie Harris (dr). They recorded another award winning album, also for the Acoustic Music label and did many tours backing up Big Jay, Guitar Crusher, Johnny Copeland, amoung others, and joined forces with Bay Area guitarist/singer/songwriter Frank Biner.

Throughout the 90ies, Christian kept a busy schedule, working with Keith Dunn, Aron Burton, Angela Brown and a host of others. The turn of the century saw him playing and recording with (once again after many years!) Billy Boy Arnold, Jody Williams, Deitra Farr, Jackie Payne, James Harman, Doug Jay and Junior Watson. He also hosts a regular Blue Monday jam session in Osnabrück/Germany and did the famous Talking Blues show with Richard Bargel in Cologne while it lasted.
In 2004, Christian produced an album on the legendary Blues piano player Ernest Lane, the man that recorded all these beautiful classic recordings with Robert Nighthawk in the late 40ies. This is Lane's first full length recording under his own name! -keep on keepin' on, Mr. Lane!!-

in 2006, He produced and played on the "Hot Tin Roof" album of the Spanish Blues/Funk band "Los Reyes del KO" (check them out, they are something else!) and has been working with them ever since. He still finds time for a lot of other activities, playing with Angela and Keith, for instance, and recording a tribute to the extremely important and totally forgotten Blues singer and piano player Walter Davis, together with Billy Boy Arnold, Charlie Mussel-white and Jimmy McCracklin.
 


Stephanie Trick (piano, USA)

Stephanie Trick “has come to practically dominate the stride piano field” notes reviewer Jack Rummel. Harlem stride piano, which developed in the 1920s and ’30s, is an orchestral style of two-handed piano playing that not only swings, but is also technically demanding and exciting to watch. Louis Mazetier, a respected interpreter of this genre, writes in the Bulletin of the Hot Club of France that she has “won the esteem of specialists in the genre with wonderful interpretations of stride classics, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, and Don Lambert (which she learned by ear). She plays these pieces with a punch that is matched by her precise interpretation.”

A classically trained pianist, Stephanie began playing piano at the age of five. During the time between her beginning years and high school, her piano teacher exposed her to early jazz styles, and the syncopation and swinging rhythm piqued her interest. While in college, it became clear to Stephanie that she wanted to pursue stride and classic jazz styles professionally.

With a swinging music style that includes boogie woogie and blues from the late ’20s era plus Fats Waller and Ralph Sutton, Stephanie has performed in many parts of the United States as well as in Europe in a variety of venues, including the Great Connecticut Traditional Jazz Festival, the Cincy Blues Fest in Cincinnati, the West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento, California. In 2008 and again in 2010, she was invited to perform at the international Stride and Swing Summit in Boswil, Switzerland, where she teamed up with pianists Louis Mazetier (France); Rossano Sportiello, Paolo Alderighi (Italy); Bernd Lhotzky, Chris Hopkins (Germany); Jon Weber, and Ehud Asherie (USA).

A serious student, passionate about traditional jazz and stride heritage, her studies have included piano master classes, training abroad in Germany and Austria, and she has studied under a number of celebrated musicians, including Louis Mazetier, Rossano Sportiello, Carl Sonny Leyland, and Danny Coots. Graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society at the University of Chicago.

In an effort to bring a greater appreciation for traditional jazz and its integral role in the development of American culture, Stephanie shares anecdotes about stride masters of the past during her performances and gives presentations to students in special programs about the history of early jazz from ragtime to swing. When she is not touring, she is working on her next CD and arranging, composing, and adding new pieces to her repertoire. Stephanie is also working on a program to start touring in the fall of 2011 featuring the music of James P. Johnson and other stride piano composers, set to words and sung by Grammy-nominated lyricist and vocalist Lorraine Feather (see nouveaustride.com).

Stephanie’s latest CD is Something More, recorded on the Victoria Records label in March 2011, featuring her work with a trio. A video version of the concert recorded in May 2010 at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis was released with bonus material on DVD in June 2011. (This concert is also available on a CD entitled Stephanie Trick LIVE.) Her 2008 CD, Hear That Rhythm!, has an emphasis on the stride works of Waller, Johnson, and Smith. Ragtime Tricks features the works of Joplin and other classic ragtime composers, with some tasteful embellishments. Piano Tricks, her 2005 solo album, is a combination of stride, ragtime, jazz, and classical selections. (CD track listings, video clips, ordering information, and more may be found on her website at stephanietrick.com.)

Enjoy the concert of... Stephanie Trick...!

 

Stephanie Trick (piano, USA)



VIDEO RECORDINGS STEPHANIE TRICK
Modernistic (James P. Johnson):


Death Ray Boogie (Pete Johnson):


Stefan Ulbricht (piano, GER)

Stefan Ulbricht was born in Bonn in February, 1982. Already at the age of 5, he became interested in music and started to take guitar lessons. At the age of 14 he switched to the piano and was infected by the „boogie and blues virus“ in 1997 while watching boogie and blues on tv.
As an autodidact, he began studying his favoured music style. It didn‘t take long that he learnt to know many famous musicians on concerts and jam sessions. He shares a very special and close relationship with the „grand master of boogie woogie“ in Germany, Leopold von Knobelsdorff. He owes him a lot of music al stimulations.
Since 1999, Stefan Ulbricht has been performing on various stages all over Germany as well as other countries in Europe, as there are: Hamburger Jazzmarathon 2002, Zukunftspreis 2006, Frankfurter Musikmesse, Pianistenfestival in Hamburg (Vince Weber, Gottfried Böttger, Frank Muschalle, Axel Zwingenberger, among others), Medienkulturnacht in Bonn, Bonner Sommer, Boogie Woogie Konzertexpress with Axel Zwingenberger, Boogie & Blues Festival with Leopold von Knobelsdorff, International Boogie Woogie Festival in Laroquebrou/Frankreich 2009, several Jazz Nights, regularly concerts in jazzclubs, like Dr. Jazz in Düsseldorf as well as numerous private parties and business occasions.

Playing solo piano, or accompanied by other musicians, the audience enjoys his fast and melodious boogies as well as jazz and blues songs from the 30‘s, 40‘s and 50‘s. The rolling bass figures, played with his pounding left hand, and the swinging melody are his trademarks. This is clearly evident in listening to his own compositions or well known classics like „Boogie Woogie Stomp“ or „Lady Be Good“ in the style of Albert Ammons.

In January 2003, Stefan recorded a CD called „Shift It Up“ together with Dennis Koeckstadt (he plays piano with B.B. & The Blues Shacks) and brother Jan Koeckstadt on the drums. This CD features 17 driving and swinging tracks played on two grand pianos.
With Michael van den Valentyn he founded the boogie duo „4 Hands Shakin‘„ a few years ago. A CD was recorded live in Wiesbaden in October 2004, titled „Live in Wiesbaden“. This is the third of four CDs available.

His latest CD „Big, Bigger, Boogie“, was recorded on the world‘s largest grand piano serially produced, the Fazioli F 308, in April 2009 with Moritz Schlömer on the drums, who is a versatile and exceptional boogie pianist, too. The sound of the Fazioli F 308 is oustanding and can be heard throughout the record.

On October 24, Stefan Ulbricht was honoured with the 2009 German Boogie Woogie Award „Pinetop“ as best piano player in the category „Rising Star 2009“. „Germany‘s boogie woogie community has been flourished by the awardee‘s unique style, who created something new based on the classical boogie woogie tradition. To do this, he looks further than the classic repertoire player does. Even to songs that are not typical boogie woogies, he adds the infamous boogie woogie groove. The audience will experience new aural impressions.“ According to his fresh and innovative style, not one single foot can resist this irrisistable rhythm.
 

Lasse Jensen (piano, DK)

Lasse introduces himself to you: I was born in 1991 and started taking trumpet lessons at the age of eight and general piano lessons at the age of nine. Back then, my musical idol was American rock ‘n’ roller Jerry Lee Lewis, whose music I enjoyed playing from 2003 until 2006. In 2006, I one day realized that rock ‘n’ roll didn’t have the same fiery and intriguing effect on me anymore, so I decided to search on for a musical genre like rock ‘n’ roll. This was when I discovered boogie woogie.

The first boogie woogie tune I ever heard was a 30 second clip of Albert Ammons’ “Boogie Woogie Stomp” on a website, and ever since that day I wanted to play boogie woogie. Having discovered Ammons, I inevitably ran into the recordings by Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson. The three became my new idols and I listened to whatever records I could find with them, for hours and hours. I practiced playing the piano along with their records and learnt a lot, including the 12 bar progression by heart.

In February 2007, a friend of mine invited me to go to a concert with Axel Zwingenberger, and I was completely blown away by his playing. That concert remains very special to me, because not only was it my first live experience with boogie woogie, but I also got to play a few tunes with Axel after the concert, which was very thrilling!! His playing had the same effect on me that rock ‘n’ roll did when I was younger, so I decided to have a closer look at his style and records. I had once again found a new idol in boogie woogie.Today, Axel is still my idol and he continues to amaze, impress, and inspire me. He has without a doubt been very, very influential on my style of playing boogie woogie. I have since 2007 met him on several occasions and it remains a great pleasure to meet and play with him each time. In November 2009, I recorded a solo CD, entitled “Energetic Boogie,” which of course has a few Zwingenberger compositions on it as a tribute to him.
 


Martijn Schok (piano, Holland)

Martijn's piano style is characterized by a large dose of swing, a steady groove and a high degree of virtuosity. It is clear he has a great deal of respect and admiration for the music of the early American boogie woogie originators.

Martijn is a respected interpreter of the boogie woogie style and appears at famous international festivals, such as the festival in New Orleans (Louisiana, USA), the Queen City Blues Festival in Cincinnati (Ohio, USA), the Motor City Boogie & Blues Festival in Detroit (Michigan, USA), and the international boogie woogie festivals in Switzerland, Belgium, France, England, Spain and the USA.

Martijn is founder and Chairman of the Stichting Boogie Promotions Holland, dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Boogie Woogie and Piano Blues in Holland. He is organizer of the annual International Boogie Woogie Festival Holland, together with vocalist Greta Holtrop and Dick and Diana Doorn.

 



Harlem Hoppers (dance, France)

Jelly Germain is a specialist in traditional authentic American tap and jazz dance styles.

Jelly started his career in France at the National Conservatory of Arts and Mime Followed by studying at the school of Cirque Carre Slivia Montfort. He performed initially at the Trois Maillets Cabaret and at the Nouvelle Eve and by 1991 developed his great choreographic skills with the Holland Show ballet for the first Dutch T.V Channel “veronica”.
By 1993 he was working on projects in advertising videos, such as Coca Cola with the band Pandoras, and developing his directing skills through the Dutch dance company Rhythm Ace. He also began his teaching career with the Dance Academy of Amsterdam and by 1994 was appointed as choreographer of the Lido in Amsterdam. He worked successfully with Bruno Barry (Choreographer for the Netherlands National Ballet) and also produced the musical Mr. Bojangles of Harlem.
His solo career moved forward dramatically with starring roles in such shows as the international tour of “Riverdance”, “Black and Blue” in Broadway 1996 and variety shows back in Europe at the Sporting Club de Monaco and the Casino Rhul in Nice. Such shows gained Jelly his international reputation for solo performance, directing and choreographing great innovations for the dance world.
Not only has he developed his performance techniques, he has shown imaginative skill in leading the Spanish “Show Time” company of performers who are great exponents of a wide range of dance styles. He devised the musical “Harlem Swing” to showcase the young talents of the future and Jelly is the choreographer and leader of this dance troupe. He uses an exciting mix of styles – versatile and complex, challenging and exciting for performers and audience alike – great creativity rooted within the Boogie Woogie dance traditions.

 


Jelly Germain (Harlem Hoppers)




Greta Holtrop (vocals, Holland)

With her versatile vocal talent and charismatic stage presence, the Dutch singer Greta Holtrop forms the perfect partner for Martijn Schoks swinging piano style. Her expressive voice, full of sincerity and emotion, seduces the ear with sultry interpretations of sensitive blues songs, turning just as easily to lively, swinging boogies. Boogie woogie great, Big Joe Duskin, has described her vocal tone as somewhere between Billie Holiday and Dina Washington.

Together with Martijn Schok, Greta performed during Boogie Woogie and Blues Festivals in the USA, Switzerland, France, Belgium and England.

Greta is vocalist and presenter of the successful theatre show, The Grand Piano Boogie Train with pianists Martijn Schok, Jaap Dekker and Jeroen Sweers.

Greta performed many times for national television in Holland as well as regional TV stations in the USA. For the year 2010, performances are scheduled during the Jazzfestival in Denmark.

 



Rinus Groeneveld (tenorsaxofophone, Holland)

The Amsterdam based Rinus Groeneveld is one of Hollands best tenor saxophone players. With his recognizable sound he blows a unique mix of jazz, blues, boogie woogie and rhythm and blues.

Rinus played all over the world with many jazz and blues musicians, such as Mose Allison, Big Jay McNeeley, Rosa King and Hans Dulfer. Rinus has been part of the Martijn Schok Boogie & Blues Band since 1994 and was the recording engineer of the bands latest CD "Let The Four Winds Blow ", in his own recording studios in Amsterdam.

 



Maarten Kruijswijk (drums, Holland)

In the life of the Amsterdam based drummer Maarten Kruijswijk (1964) the groove is the central thing. After completing his education at the Dutch Conservatory in 1989, he peformed for three years in the salsa band Fruta Bomba. After that he played, and still does, with tenorsaxophone player Rinus Groeneveld and played with Big Jay McNeely.

Maarten's jazz preference is Swing & Boogie. Combining these very swinging styles with his experience with Latin rhythms results in a natural basis for playing groovy New Orleans beats.

Because of his work as a drummer at the Dutch Acedemy for Dancing, he is always inspired to play music in a way that can be well danced on. "Rhythms exist to be danced on and to have fun!".

Also, Maarten mastered the CD "Let The Four Winds Blow" by the Martijn Schok Boogie & Blues Band created the graphic design.

 

Hans Ruigrok (bass, Holland)

After finishing his study at the Conservatory Music School in 1986, Hans Ruigrok (1955) toured for seven years in Europe with the Glenn Miller Orchestra of Wil Salden.

He played with, amongst many others, with PB and the Nighttrain, Max Teawhistle, Big Jay McNeely, Georgie Fame, Johnny Meijer, Bolle Jan Froger and many others.

Is musical preferences are Jazz, Boogie Woogie, Blues and Soul. And enjoys the real Amsterdam Harmonica Music very much too.

Also, he runs and owns the Amsterdam based Jazz Café 't Geveltje.

 

Stephan Jankowski (guitar, Holland) -English text published soon-

Stephan studeerde gitaar aan het GIT in Los Angeles, kwam daarna naar Hilversum waar hij het conservatorium volgde. Hij was gedurende 10 jaar elektrisch gitarist in Upside Down, de begeleidingsband van saxofoniste Rosa King waarmee hij de halve wereld rondtoerde.

Hij werkte verder met: Georgie Fame, Hans Dulfer, Hans Zilver, Fronk, Arthur Umbgrove, Rick de Vito, P.B. & The Nighttrain, Sofie & Sofour, Skymasters, Hot Bolshevik, Double Brown, Sister Sledge, Jack Clement, the Watchman, All The King’s Roses, Aggieland en vele anderen.

Daarnaast is Stephan actief als producer en runt hij zijn eigen NOPO opnamestudio te Amsterdam. Program subject to change.

 

Artists subject to change.

 

The International Boogie Woogie Festival
Holland is supported by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds / Foundation