Tag Archives: eric vloeimans

Eric & Will: Unforgettably Unclassifiable

Eric Vloeimans and Will Holshouser. Photo by Merlijn Doomernik.

It isn’t jazz, exactly, though it lives in a jazz environment, nor is it classical. It’s not folk, rock and roll, or sacred music, either. Yet American accordionist Will Holshouser and Dutch trumpeter Eric Vloeimans combine elements of all of these and more in their compositions—sometimes all in the same piece—to articulate their compositional objectives. In the process, they have created sui generis music that is at once lyrical, playful, and deeply felt. The two will bring their music—and likely their new album, Two for the Road—to the Outpost on Tuesday, September 27, as part of the 16th annual New Mexico Jazz Festival.

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Hersch and Vloeimans (Yes, Again, and with Good Reason)

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I had been hesitant to review these two albums—Live in Europe from the Fred Hersch Trio and Eric & Will from Eric Vloeimans and Will Holshouser—because both Hersch and Vloeimans have been featured on this site numerous times in recent months. However, after giving both a close listen, I think it would be a disservice to you, gentle reader, not to alert you to these remarkable recordings. Continue reading →

Eric Vloeimans and the Sound of Music

Eric Vloeimans
Kinan Azmeh. Photo by Martina Novak.
Jeroen van Vliet. Photo by Rens Horn.
Eric Vloeimans (center), Holland Baroque, and their Edison.

Two recent releases from Dutch trumpeter Eric Vloeimans—Levanter, featuring the trio of Vloeimans, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and Dutch pianist Jeroen van Vliet; and Carrousel, Vloeimans’ second collaboration with Holland Baroque, following their Old, New & Blue release—offer soul-satisfying music that’s hard to classify. The compositions and performances on these two distinctly different albums combine, in different ratios, elements of rock, jazz, world, baroque, and even a touch of musette into singular Vloeimansesque amalgams. Continue reading →

Eric Vloeimans’ Oliver’s Cinema: Moving Sounds

Photo compilation by Abe Goldstien.

Photo compilation by Abe Goldstien.

The last time gregarious Dutch trumpeter Eric Vloeimans (pronounced Vlouie-mahns) came through Albuquerque, he brought his electronically supplemented quartet Gatecrash, which
delivered eloquent and funky kick-ass jazz at a fairly high volume. No louder than Vloeimans’ wardrobe, though, which is as floridly splendid as anything Carnaby Street ever produced.

This time around, Vloeimans, as sartorially colorful as ever, enlists his stunning virtuosity in the service of a very different musical experience: Oliver’s Cinema, a trio that also includes
Belgium’s Tuur Florizoone on accordion and Germany’s Jörg Brinkmann on cello, virtuosi in their own right, and which inhabits the other end of the volume spectrum. The three, who sound as if they’ve been together for years, draw on both original and popular compositions to produce
expressive, delicate, and uncategorizable chamber music played in the open air of jazz. Forget “third stream.” This music blends several streams—from jazz with a folkloric memory, to
popular movie scores with a classical sensibility.

This Thursday at the Outpost, if their eponymously titled album (Buzz/Challenge Records
International) is any indication, Eric Vloeimans’ Oliver’s Cinema will unreel an evening of lyrical moving sounds. Continue reading →