Dutch jazz ensemble De Raad van Toezicht ("The Supervisory Board") make it look that they are aiming high with their second full-length 84. Capturing George Orwell's classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four into music has been tried before, and the results were mixed. David Bowie was cut short by Orwell's widow and turned a proposed theatrical album into a couple of songs that would make up side 2 of his Diamond Dogs album in 1974. Eurythmics made a soundtrack for a movie adaption directed by Michael Radford. 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) was the weakest album of their career. Suffice to say that the film itself is pretty bad too.
With that in mind the twelve musicians thankfully get it right on most counts. The music is funky and close to jazz rock at times or deceptively soothing to indicate that the powers that be aren't paying attention. But wait, 84 isn't about Orwell's dark vision as such. The music is about death in the family - bass guitarist Teun Creemers wrote Mirror as an ode to his grandfather, dreams (Colours and alienation (Hamburg. And while those themes can be traced back to the book - yes, this is pushing it, naming an album after it might not have been such a smart move after all. Disregard it and the album can hold its own a nice mix of adventurous and mainstream jazz.
De Raad van Toezicht:
joël Botma: trumpet
Yoran Aarssen: alto/soprano sax
Jesse Schilderink: tenor sax
Sam Thomas: trombone
Mirco Wessolly: violin
Jasper Mellema: keys
Philipp Frenzel: keys
Dung Hoang: guitar
Philipp Ullrich: guitar
Teun Creemers: bass
Janik Hüsch: drums
Bouke Hofma: drums
84 is a self-released album. Buy it (CD, digital) from their website.
Tracks:- Gutterdish
- Dwartdistle
- Solarium
- The Prophecy
- Colours
- Mirror
- Marco Polo
- Hamburq
- 10/27 Houten, Netherlands @ Cultuurnacht
- 11/10 Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Lantarenvenster
- 11/17 Haarlem, Netherlands @ Philharmonie
- 11/19 Mülheim a/d Rruhr, Netherlands @ Sol Kulturbar
- 11/24 Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands @ Hilverjazz
- 12/23 Tilburg, Netherlands @ Paradox - Stranger Than Paranoia
- 12/24 Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Brebl - Stranger Than Paranoia
- 12/29 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Bimhuis
- 01/26 Den Haag, Netherlands @ Paard
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