(Contemporary Jazz, Film Music) [CD] I Compani - Fellini - 2004, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracks 1-15 recorded at the Bimhuis Amsterdam on January 10th 2004 and at LUX Nijmegen, January 25th, 2004. Track 16 recorded at the Bimhuis Amsterdam, June 1993.

Music to the Films of Fellini The Dutch jazz outfit I Compani - whose early lineup included bandleader Bo van de Graaf (soprano and tenor saxophone), Frank Nielander (alto sax), Wouter van Bemmel (trumpet, tuba), Jeroen Doomernik (trumpet), Jeroen Goldsteen (piano), Carel van Rijn (bass), and Fred van Duynhoven (drums) - received initial recognition in 1985, when they put together a critically acclaimed program called Fellini/Rota that combined scenes from Fellini movies (such as La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Amarcord, Roma, and others) with live music from Fellini composer Nino Rota. The same year, van de Graaf paid a personal visit to Fellini at his Rome studio to present him with I Compani's debut recording, Music to the Films of Fellini. Luna Triste: Music Composed by Nino Rota & Bo van de GraafI Compani have continued to focus on compositions by Rota, but have also included their own songs in their programs (mainly written by van de Graaf), combining elements of jazz, film music, and classical. When I Compani played live during their early years, their lineup was often augmented by other musicians (including trombonists Joost Buis, Bernard Hunnekink, and Chris Abelen; trumpeter Felicity Provan; guitar player Corrie van Binsbergen; and saxophonists Maarten van Norden, Fred Leeflang, Frans Vermeerssen), while actors, clowns, acrobats, and dancers also performed. I Compani have issued recordings steadily in the years following their 1985 debut, including 1988's Ecco: More Music by Nino Rota, 1990's Luna Triste, 1994's Sogni d'Oro, 1995's I Compani Plays Rota, 1997's Gluteus Maximus, 2000's Het Circus Komt (The Circus Is Coming), 2001's Aida, 2008's Circusism, and 2010's Last Tango in Paris: The Music of Gato Barbieri. Mangiare! In February 2011 I Compani issued Mangiare!, an album celebrating their 25th anniversary and featuring a wide range of the group's repertoire and styles. For this recording, the lineup included van de Graaf and Doomernik along with trombonist Hans Sparla, violinist Tessa Zoutendijk, cellist Jacqueline Hamelink, bandoneonist Michel Mulder, keyboardist Christoph Mac-Carty, and the Willem Breuker Kollektief rhythm team of bassist Arjen Gorter and drummer Rob Verdurmen. I Compani returned in September of the following year with Garbo, featuring music from their latest live project, Diva's, in which the group celebrated iconic actresses from 100 years of cinema from the silent film era to the present day. The Garbo set also included a bonus disc, Tango and Impro, recorded at a Maria Schneider memorial concert held following her death in 2011. Extended 2013 In 2013 I Compani were back with yet another live recording, Extended 2013, in which an expanded 23-piece version of the ensemble (often in smaller instrumental groupings) performed an improv-heavy set complete with audience participation, while 2014 saw the release of Verdi 2.00, in which I Compani again recording live in concert rebooted their 2001 approach to Aida along with selected other compositions by Giuseppe Verdi in celebration of the Italian composer's 200th birthday. As the ensemble's many live recordings demonstrate, I Compani are at their best in a concert setting (having performed hundreds of concerts since their inception). The group has appeared at such prestigious Dutch festivals as the North Sea Jazz Festival and Winterparade Amsterdam; at jazz festivals in Le Mans and Mulhouse (France), Leicester (Great Britain), and Frankfurt, Vilshoven, Hamburg, Cologne, and Bielefeld (Germany); and at film festivals in Ghent (Belgium) and Rotterdam. ~ allmusic.com

The Fellini album by I Compani can be considered as a final statement in the history of this 9 piece ensemble. From the beginning in 1985 I Compani played it's own arrangements of the filmmusic of Nino Rota : the composer who worked with filmmaker Fellini between 1954 and 1979.) I Compani is a Dutch Jazz Ensemble led by saxophonist, composer Bo van de Graaf. In 2003 , 10 years after the death of Fellini, I Compani toured with new Nino Rota arrangements in Holland and Belgium. The group was extended from 7 to 11 musicians. 2 bassplayers : Carel van Rijn acoustic bass and Pieter Douma on bassguitar. 2 keeuboards : Jeroen van Vliet piano & Würlitzer and Hans Hasebos synthesizer and mallets. two drumers: Fred and Martin van Duijnhoven. one trumpet and 2 saxophones and violin. and last but not least the beautiful voice of the young German / Afghan singer Simin Tander. The album was released at the Northsea Jazz Festival 2004. Press and public was very enthousiast about this CD. (the best Dutch Jazz CD of 2004 according to Tom Beetz in the magazine "Jazz") ~ cdbaby.com
I Compani has been around since 1985, and its mandate hasn't changed much at all since. The ensemble, formed and still directed by alto and tenor player Bo van de Graaf, devotes itself to the music of Nino Rota, whom film fans will recognize as Federico Fellini's Bernard Hermann. Over the years, van de Graaf and other members of the band have fattened the band's book with original compositions in the style of Rota, but it's Rota's work that still forms the core of I Compani's output. Fellini (IcDisc), a collection of Nota and van de Graaf compositions performed live, marks the band's second decade, and by now this routine is old hat. The band performs Rota's surreal folk music, minor-key ballads and carnival marches with balance and precision, saving the longer solos for van de Graaf's more atmospheric and open-ended pieces. Pieter Douma's electric bass gives the music a slightly funky touch, but the overall mood is respectful. For the curious: Fellini pulls from La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, La Strada, Juliet of the Spirits, Amarcord and Casanova. ~ aaron steinberg, jazztimes.com

Bo van de Graaf - soprano, alto & tenorsax
Frank Nielander - alto & tenorsax
Jeroen Doomernik - trumpet
Tessa Zoutendijk - violin
Simin Tander - vocals (06,08,10,11,16)
Hans Hasebos - keyboards and samples
Jeroen van Vliet - piano & wurlitzer
Carel van Rijn - bass
Pieter Douma - bass guitar
Martin van Duijnhoven - electronic drumset
Fred van Duijnhoven - drums
Vera Vingerhoeds - tenorsax
Jeroen Goldsteen - vibraphone