Jack van Poll celebrates his 80th Birthday with a concert
To celebrate the career & the 80th anniversary of this remarkable musician, September Records release a tribute album to Jack van Poll, aptly named ‘The Composer’.
Hans Kusters says: In honor of Jack Van Poll’s 80th birthday I decided to compile this album. Not simply focusing on his musicianship but also on his amazing skills as a world-class composer. I reached out to an eclectic group of Jazz musicians and asked them for their musical impression of Jack’s compositions. The result of those recordings is this unique musical gathering of friends bringing his tunes to life. (Hans Kusters, Hkm - September Music).
TRACKS by Viktor Lazlo, Heyn van de Geyn, David Linx, Tutu Pouane, Klaus Doldinger, Philip Catherine, Robert Jeanne, ’Igor Gehenot, Jef Neve, Steven De bruyn and more!
- Johan Clement Trio: Martins MoodTracklist
- Viktor Lazlo: Solo (Quiet now)
- Hein van de Geyn: The Day You Left
- Joep Peeters Sextet: Catch Up
- Jef Neve: Fleur du Cap
- Bagosa Quartet : Objizdka
- Tutu Puoane, Ewout Pierreux & Mary Hehuat: Song for today
- Robert Jeanne : Mississippi Chaser
- Philip Catherine & Rony Verbiest : Blue Tait
- Denise Jannah & Coco Briaval : Magie
- David Linx : Over Yonder
- Klaus Doldinger : People Will Try Again
- Steven De bruyn: When morning comes 80
(contains a bonus cd with 8 original Jack Van Poll compositions)
Jack van Poll: from printshop to the top of the jazz world (Bio)
Jazz pianist Jack Van Poll (Roosendaal, November 29th 1934) was destined for something totally different than pursuing a musical career, but the cliché “blood will tell” is merely a fact in Jack’s story.
As a teenager he played in a band called “The Rose Valleys” (rumor is he was bitten by the jazz bug at a very early age) and therefore found himself caught in the Dutch live scene and jazz contests as a young man. He also represented the third generation in a family printing shop his great grandfather founded in Roosendaal, called “van Poll Suykerbuyk-drukkerijen” which obviously required some accountability and it seemed undeniable Jack would take over the business. Attending a graphic design school in Wuppertal, Germany seemed the appropriate thing to do, but soon he was spending as much time in the local jazz clubs as in the school’s classrooms. Nevertheless, he went back to Roosendaal after his 4 years of scholarship to begin work at the family printing shop after his father passed away too soon. But that jazz bug didn’t let go of him. With his trio he accompanied numerous American artists who played Europe: John Griffin and Tony Scott, to name a few.
The year was 1979 and Jack sold the family business in Roosendaal to become a professional musician. That same year he opened the “September Jazz Club”, one of the most prestigious music clubs ever in Antwerp. Sadly enough it closed its doors after only two years due to numerous noise complaints.
Lionel Hampton discovers Jack’s exceptional talent during his European tour in the early 80’s and promptly hires him as pianist for his “East Coast Summer Tour” in North America. It’s 1985 and after touring the States for six weeks with Lionel Hampton’s band, and even joining Memphis born singer Dee Dee Bridgewater on stage in Manhattan, Van Poll develops an undeniable love for the United States. This marked the start of his international musical career. There wasn’t an award winning international jazz festival without Jack Van Poll’s name on the bill: Antibes, North Sea Jazz Festival Den Hague, Comblain La Tour,...
The rumor is that Dizzy Gillespie once said: “I had to look twice before I believed this Dutch cat was white”.
After temporary leaving the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain, Jack embraced South Africa as a home base in 1990. He honeymooned there with his wife Trudy, played concerts, offered workshops to talented but unfortunate young black people and founded the “Jack Van Poll Foundation” to help these gifted youngsters. This is how he met the accomplished singer Tutu Puoane and brought her to the conversatory in Den Hague. Tutu now lives in Antwerp with her Flemish husband and operates as a respected and celebrated artist from Antwerp to South Africa.
Hans Kusters concludes: “The result of those recordings is this unique musical gathering of friends bringing his tunes to life”. Happy Birthday Jack!
Tutu Puaone will join Rocco Granata and a large assemblage of artists to celebrate Jack Van Poll’s 80th birthday on November 29th at the Roma in Borgerhout, Belgium.
All proceedings from this grand event will go to NGO Memisa.
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