Please, stop calling me
Artist : Sfeq Date : 2006.07.08
Genre : Jazz Length : 29
Much has happened since Sfeq won the Middelsee Jazztreffen competition in 1991 and the International European Jazz Competition a year later in Luverkusen. Six widely acclaimed cds have appeared and the group has completed several extensive international tours. In 1994 a government study grant enabled the entire group to stay in New York. Their itinerary included four gigs at the renowned Knitting Factory. In October 1999, to mark its tenth anniversary, the band released Sfeq 3000. In the spring of 2000 Sfeq played music by DJ, Git Hyper, aka Zimmerman. Sfeq has since been acclaimed in the press as the hippest Dutch jazz group around.
Sfeq’s sound is characterised by a subtle integration of elements drawing on all kinds of musical styles. The result is ‘Tension’ or ‘Free Beat’. At once intense and complex and refined. Soloists Bart Suèr and Maarten Ornstein are part and parcel of the tight rhythm section. Bassist Peter Bergman and drummer Eric Hoeke are the driving force. In recent years Sfeq have played regularly at North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague, London’s Jazz Café and the Knitting Factory in NYC. Last spring Sfeq played their own compositions in a concert with Vince Mendoza’s Metropole Orkest. Sfeq’s label Dox Records will be releasing these radio broadcasts on cd. To mark their tenth anniversary in October 1999 the band toured with Indian master drummer Manik Munde. In September 2001 Sfeq produced Sound Travelling, a composition commissioned by NPS Radio for a dance event including 16 musicians and live sound mixer Wart Wamsteker.
