MORE JAZZ IN BREDA

On Easter Monday Breda's Ginneken will be filled with jazz sounds again.

Looks like Breda is preparing for the JAZZ BREDA Festival mid-May...

In 't Ginneken six different cafés will host various bands this hopefully sunny afternoon. A free programme: Jazz Connection, BOSCO, Schemerkelk Kwartet, The Auratones, Joep Peeters, The new Orleans Rumples' Jazzband, Audobon and Dirty Dozen.

I will have my annual Jubal training camp to prepare for this year's show in Someren near Eindhoven, but I'm seriously thinking of making a stop in Breda on my way home that Monday afternoon.

Enjoy,

HK

FABULOUS BIG JAZZ NIGHT BREDA

The Meeús Big Jazz Night in Breda last Saturday night was a perfect evening of great jazz!
Four bands were featured, all showing their own talents and style.

The event opened to a perfromance of Happy Feet Brassband, a New-orleans style street ensemble, two trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 saxophones, 1 sousaphone & 2 drums. Cool stuff they played, well balanced & fairly entertaining. The interaction with the audience could have been a bit more though, especially for a band that is playing right within the crowd.

On stage the highlight of the evening (to my honest opinion) was the Louis, Louis, Louis! project of Jazz Connection with additional guest artists Frits Landesbergen on vibraphone and British clarinetist Andy Cooper. A tribute to musical virtuosis Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima and Louis Jordan. Speaking of virtuosis... the members of Jazz Connection have managed to steal my heart for the last number of years,.. but Landesbergen and Cooper are incredibly gifted musicians!

Especially enjoyed Cooper's solo featuring some interesting instrument control creating the craziest sounds with just air.

Loved the musical book! Hope this will be published on CD!

Hometown drummer/percussionist Chris Strik brought his New Orleans Xperience to the Breda Mezz stage, featuring Tineke Postma on saxophone and nico Schepers on trumpet.

Fast paced rhythms from the two-piece brass section highlighted the gig. I couldn't keep looking at the crazy faces Chris made while he was playing. As if drumming hurts at times. Oh well...

Excellent guitar work and cool solos throughout the performance. For the last piece trumpet player Daan Bogers (who brought his big band BOSCO Swing Collective to the Big Jazz Night stage last year) was invited on stage to play along with the band.

Grupo Cuba Libre is an absolute must if you like Salsa & Merengue! This 12-piece band knows how to get everyone's hips going alright! A brass-section consisting of 2 trumpets, 1 trombone and a female saxophone(s) player fit right in the tyopical South American style, though lacked that little bit of extra emotion the songs needed. Lead singer Carlos Joseph, perfectly dressed in white, kept entertaining everyone from start to finish.

DJ Ser-V filled Mezz with his well-varied collection of music from the turntables, which had uite a few people swingng on the dancefloor till closingtime. I especially enjoyed the Gypsy Beats & Balkan Bangers!

Enjoy,

HK

A FEW DRINKS

Every week the shops in town are open on Thursday night, so I went and did some errands for an hour and a half or so. Got some nice square white plates to match the ones I already have, and some Italian food for a get-together I am organizing in a few weeks.

Afterwards it was off to MIRÓ for a few drinks with a few friends from Jubal,... sparkling water!! haha,... gotta be strong with this diet I am doing!

The place is really nice. We go there more often, usually on Fridaynights after rehearsal or on Saturdaynights. Occasionally we drop in on Thursdays. tonight the place was still rather deserted when we walked in about 9:30 PM, but the later it got,.. the more this changed.

I left just before 1 AM and the bar was jam-packed! Pretty unbelievable on a weekday...

For some reason I always go home too late on these occasions. I usually forget that I have to work in the morning. Last day of the week again fortunately!

Enjoy,

HK

WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY

Today is World Down Syndrome Day!

Having a mentally and phisically disabled brother myself (not with Down Syndrome) I got in touch with a lot of adults and kids with the Down Syndrome over the years. Many of them lived with him in the same homes.

Also in my direct environment I have known our friend Patrick for about 30 years. His family and mine used to spend some weeks at a beach resort in Spain for many many years in the past.


Patrick is one of the biggest fans of our mardi gras band "De Rammen" at the annual "Kleintje Carnaval" event.


He is always on stage throughout the performance of every band there, neatly dressed as Prince Carnaval and singing along in his microphone or waving his baton.

Patrick with our band at this year's "Kleintje Carnaval"

Some background about the World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD)...

The date was chosen to signify the uniqueness of Down syndrome in the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome and is used synonymously with Down syndrome.


Singapore was selected to launch the inaugural WDSD in 2006. The event, held at the CHIJ Secondary School in Toa Payoh, in the heartlands of Singapore was very successful and well attended. Many other organisations worldwide joined in the celebrations with events and activities in their respective countries.


This year the theme for 21 March 2007 is "Celebrating Diversity", to continue creating awareness about Down syndrome and promote acceptance of diversity. All Down Syndrome Internaional (DSI) members and related organisations worldwide are encouraged to observe the WDSD together with the community in an appropriate manner.


DSI President Josephine Mills stated: "It is hoped that this day will gradually become better known and celebrated world wide to enhance people’s knowledge and appreciation of people with Down syndrome."


And she's very right!!!

Enjoy,


HK

JAZZ IN BREDA

This Saturday I will attend the third edition of Meeús Big Jazz Night in the MEZZ in Breda.

Was there last year as well and had an incredibly good time!

Among the organizers of this evening is one of my favourite Dutch jazz units JAZZ CONNECTION.

This year the event will have a line-up of 5 top-bands!

Chris Strik New Orleans Xperience, featuring Tineke Postma on saxophone

Frits Landesbergen, Andy Cooper (UK) & Jazz Connection: Louis, Louis, Louis !

Grupo Cuba Libre

Happy Feet Brassband

and DJ Ser-V will be closing the evening.

Debuting this year is the New Orleans Xperience, a new band with some fine musicians.

I was invited to come and capture the event in photos this Saturday.

Will be a great evening! No doubt about that!

Tickets for Meeús Big Jazz Night can be bought online (discount internet price: € 7) at www.mezz.nl.
or
at the following addresses at the regular €9 admission price:
Velvet Music, Tolbrugstraat 12, Breda
Play It Again, Nieuwstraat 10, Breda

Enjoy,



HK

CONSERVATORY GRADUATION TRY-OUT

My friend Mark had his try-out miniconcert with his band "Penny's Twisted Flavour" at the Rotterdam Waterfront club tonight.

He will graduate from the Rotterdam Conservatory this June.

I joined Mark's parents and girl-friend to the try-out concert tonight to shoot a series of photos soon to be used on his band's website.

Fabulous symphonic rock style! Great guitar work!

Enjoy,

HK

REHEARSAL & PARTY

photo: www.amigos.fm

It was one of those long - but effective - rehearsal days yesterday: 9:30 AM - 5 PM.

Learnt the rest of the opener for this year's field show. Looks pretty good.

The drill is widely spread across the field, so that will be an exciting challenge on April 30, when we have our first tattoo in our home town. The event will be held downtown on a market square, which is definitely far too small! Our biggest "rival" from the corps competition - Beatrix' from Hilversum - will be there too.

Morning rehearsal was drill only. In the afternoon we all went to the corps hall and continued in sectionals before putting the entire hornline together for ensemble.

Yesterday was the first time we did a full run of the 2007 musical book. Needs a lot of cleaning, but its starts coming together alright!

Some exciting music this year!

Came home rather pooped. But a nice hot bath gives you a nice kick start again!

Went downtown for a couple of drinks with a few friends in the evening, and then on to Amigos for an extra edition of the 70s/80s/90s party. Went there a few weeks ago as well. That night the place was jam-packed. Last night... far from it!

Only the main stage area was open, so you can imagine how few people were there!

Enjoyed myself though. RUn into people I know everywhere I go, so enough people to talk to or dance with!

Enjoy,

HK

CONFERENCE

Yesterday I spent all day in Ede at the National English Conference.

"The NEC wishes to promote the general awareness of English as an absolute necessity in our modern society, to promote modern, high-quality teaching and learning of English at all levels of Dutch education and therefore to promote professional development of teachers involved in English language tuition in the Netherlands."

Main theme of the conference was the "Europen Framework".

I took part in a couple of interesting workshops and presentations.

Especially enjoyed the one on teaching grammar!

At conferences the catering should normally be outstanding, but here in Ede they hadn't done a good job. Tasted OK, but nothing special!

Enjoy,

HK

PIGEON SHIT

On the short excursion trip we took to Venice with the Serafino Riva school in Italy last week, we obviously ended up at that San Marco square.

The Piazza originated in the 9th century as a small area in front of the original San Marco Basilica.

On my previous visit to Venice a few years ago I didn't really realize there were that many pigeons. This trip we got the full treat!!!

The € 1 little bag of corn was well worth the money and resulted in a couple of good laughs!

Once the bag was opened the damn birds almost attacked us and were all over us within seconds.

They shit all over you too,... but fortunately the crap on my new coat was dry enough to easily wipe it off.

Venice is a great city! Beautiful narrow streets and canals.
Unfortunately CAFFE FLORIAN was closed,... wanted to check out what a € 10 cup of tea was like!

Florian is the world's first café and opened December 29 1720, under the name of Venezia Trionfante.

Bought a couple of original masks as well. Talked about the masks in a previous post.

Enjoy,

HK

MORE REUNION

For some reason I simply can't get this school reunion from last Saturday out of my head.
And not without reason!


Best time I've had in a long time! What a great event!

Jackie (all the way from Yvelines/Paris), Anka, Marja & Nynke,...
classmates from 1982

Unfortunately an evening like that you really can't talk to everyone you'd like to chat with. Only very briefly with some of them.

I found out quite a few have a family and a bunch of kids, found interesting jobs, moved to far away places,... others are single (again), lost jobs.... Surprisingly not too many became teachers! And they all taught us so well back then...

Andries van der Graaf gave us a small tour through the building

Lots of stories from "the old days" were shared last Saturday, and we all agreed this reunion had taken way too long. We will work on getting the HAVO clan together soon in a smaller setting. Maybe even at my place... we'll see.

In the meantime my mind keeps drifting off to last Saturday again.

Enjoy,

HK

SCHOOL REUNION

PJS 1981/1982 - 25 years later

Had a blast at the school reunion last night!

It has been exactly 25 years since we left the Prinses Juliana Schoolengemeenschap in Dordrecht.


The event was organized very well!

The reunion was originally meant for the MAVO students who gaduated in 1981 and 1982, but among the HAVO students there was a lot of interest too. Some of my former classmates got me to sign up as well. Turned out to be quite a large group!


Great fun to see so many familiar faces after so many years. And yes... we have all aged...
Not too many teachers had come to the reunion which I think is a pity.
My favourites - Mr Jongeneel and van de Graaf - were there though!


Too much to talk about with everybody,.... and just too little time!

Some had brought pictures from our final schoolyear. Especially liked the "Kolderdag" shots. I had a bet that year and grew my hair (uyes I still had hair then!) from October to mid-April.
Some of the girls experimented their hairdressers skills om my head that day. Brought back a lot of fun memories!


Also lots of photos from the school excursion we made to Paris. That was my first trip to my now favourite city. Obviously I promoted the trip I am organizing in May. Some were interested in joining. Two are already coming.

We took a few group shots at the end of the evening. We should have these get-togethers a lot more often!

My inspiration - Mr Arie Jongeneel

Especially enjoyed the private tour Andries van de Graaf gave us (only a small group) through "our" school. The building itself hadn't changed much since we left. Of course many rooms had been modernized.


Enjoy,

HK

BACK IN TOWN

The trip to Italy was a success! Now we just hope the financial situation for the school there (the funding) will work out,... only then can we really realize an actual exchange.

And that's definitely what one of the goals of this international project is.

It would be great if we can all work on subjects in our own environments at our own schools, then match things together through email or a special website, and eventually travel to Italy with a group and receive them here in Dordrecht with a return-visit.

This week's trip really wore us out alright....

I definitely needed to catch up on some sleep when I came home.

No time to go to bed early while there. The week's programme was filed to the maximum.

This morning I had rehearsal with Jubal (my first drill rehearsal, for the corps already started last week), so that didn't help much in finding rest.

Tonight I'm going to a reunion of my dormer secondary school. I'm eager to see all those classmates from 25 years ago !

Enjoy,

HK

SMALL PIZZA

We had a good laugh at a local restaurant the other night!

Not knowing what to order, we had the chef prepare us a family pizza - almost the diamater of a truck wheel .

When the waitress came to the table with it, we were very surprised at the size! The rest of the restaurant guests were applauding,... haha.

When she walked away I called her back, jokingly asking her "and what about MY pizza?".

Enjoy,

HK

SERAFINO RIVA

As you probably read I'm visiting the Serafino Riva Secondary School in Sarnico (Italy) for starting an international project with them and our students.
The official name of the school is " Instituto Scolastico Superiore Statale Serafino Riva".
Extremely interesting visit!
Very warm welcome.
We're giving some presentations in several classes here and dicussing possibilities for the project with the language department.

Also some time for culture of course!
School here finishes at 1:25 every day !!
But then... the kids also go to school on Saturdays! Are we lucky or what in the Netherlands?

Enjoy,

HK

GREAT TRIP TO ITALY SO FAR

Sarnico - the yellow building richt of the orange one is our hotel.

From our room and balcony we look out over the Lago d'Iseo

The trip to Italy has been a great success so far. After a stop in Monza and Milano we made our way to our final destination SARNICO on the beautiful lake ISEO.

We met with the school staff and president on Monday and also with some of the classes that might be involved in the International project. Obviously the kids were very shy. I am sure our Dutch students would react exactly the same.

Today (Tuesday) we did a few presentations in several classes, and also showed them the video presentation my class (3D at Wellantcollege had put together). Some good questions from the Italian students!

Same schedule for tomorrow and Thursday. thursday afternoon we will take part in a general staff meeting. That will be fun,... since not too many teachers speak English all that well!

I am absolutely convinced this international project we are preparing with the Instituto Serafino Riva here in Sarnico will be a great success. All teachers and students are looking forward to working together. We're getting more and more enthusiastic!

Enjoy,

HK

Milano

DESSERT IN MONZA/MILANO

Right.... I'm in Italy right now, for an international exchange programme with a secondary school in Sarnico. We (a colleague and friend of mine and myself) flew from Eindhoven to Bergamo near Milan today. Picked up a rental car after finding out our reservation had been cancelled, and drove to Milan. Pretty amazing city. We'll take a cultural programme with a few teachers here tomorrow, and hopefully will get to do some serious shopping!

Then it's off to Sarnico tomorrow evening to meet with the school staff on Monday morning.

Tonight we were invited by the President and vice president of the Italian Marching Band Association, Mr Felice Cattaneo and Franca, for a wonderful dinner and most enjoyable evening full of conversations and exchanging ideas at a fine restaurant in Monza.

They gave us a little tour of of downtown Monza and told us some interesting facts about the cathedral en Piazza de Roma, before having a few apetizers and a Presecco at a local bar and a delightful traditional northern Italian meal (Risotto con Ossobucci) followed by one of the best desserts I have ever had: home made chocolate cake with vanilla icecream. The chocolate was almost like a melted brownie in a crispy cup of dough....

Felice Cattaneo runs the Italian Marching Band Association, and didn't hide the fact that he is very much looking forward to having our corps JUBAL at his Open Italian Championships in Busto Arsizio on the first of July. Wonderful people, and extremely enthused and dedicated for the activity.

We exchanged some gifts. The had some pens, a CD holder and a bag for us. I gave them a booklet in italian about our city of Dordrecht, a pen, and the DVD of the Jubal USA Tour 2006.

Enjoy,

HK

YOUNGBLOOD BRASS BAND... WOW !!!!!!!!!

Jerome with Youngblood Brass Band

Just got home from another fabulous concert by the Youngblood Brass Band in Den Bosch tonight. What a night!!!
Third concert I have attended within the last year and once again absolutely GREAT !
Gave trumpet player Mike some photographs I had taken last time they were here (Brussels - see this blog March and April 2006).

A few new faces in the line-up. Trombone player Jerome is an incredible musician,.. and a crazy guy too. Jeeeeez is he active or what!

I'm off to bed. "Headbanger" still in my head...

Enjoy,

HK