We had fun arranging the well-known tunes for pianotrio to make them sound fresh and new while still recocnisable.

15 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Traditional Jazz Combo, JAZZ: Swing/Big Band



Details:
The attic sessions

Pianist Dirk Balthaus joined the "Deep River" trio in September 2005. At that time the trioâs job was to accompany Dutch vocal group "Deep River", playing their swinging gospel, jazz, blues and pop tunes in all of Hollandâs major theatres as well as venues in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.

We - Dirk, Joep Lumey on bass and myself on drums, - enjoyed playing together so much that we decided to see how the trio would sound with the piano in the lead.

The idea of recording a CD with the trio was born - now we needed a theme! We shared a love for Gershwin's timeless music. It had always been around when we studied at the conservatory and had been a great influence on us all. Yet we'd never played these pieces together. This project created the perfect opportunity.

The Marnix studios, situated amongst the rooftops in the heart of Amsterdam with view over the city, provided the atmosphere for this all-inspiring recording. For three tropical summer days in June, with the sun beating down on the roof, we climbed the five flights of stairs to record the tunes that are now on this CD - the attic sessions were born.

We had fun arranging the well-known tunes to make them sound fresh and new while still familiar and recognisable. We wish you as much pleasure in listening as we had in playing.

Liner notes by Inigo Grimbergen


Dirk Balthaus is a pianist based in Amsterdam and is very active in the European Jazz scene. He has three records on his name: âTales of the frogâ (Acoustic Music records), âThe healingâ (Via records), âOn childrenâs groundâ (Munich records) and plays on several others as a sideman. He worked with famous jazz artists like Lee Konitz (USA), Benny Bailey (USA), Ack van Rooyen (NL,) Dale Barlow (AUS), Lew Tabackin (USA) en John Engels (NL) amongst others.
Beside his Trio activities he plays and composes for the band JuzzFlirtin (www.juzzflirtin.com) and is a permanent member of Joan Reinderâs Millenium Jazz Orchestra. With the rhythmsection from this recording, Joep Lumeij on bas and Inigo Grimbergen on drums he accompanies the Deep River Quartet, a vocal group from the Netherlands.

For more information please visit his website: www.dirkbalthaus.com