SONGS FROM THE INDO EUROPEAN SONGBOOK
Dutch musician / storyteller Stormvogel takes his listeners on a musical journey through time, unveiling a coffer of musical relics of vanished ages. This performance is not only a concert, it is a ritual experience, to break the deadlock and go astray, to escape from everyday life and mind hampering routine. Hypnotic improvisations on synthesizer and piano, based upon modal motives acquired from antiquity to contemporary, gathered from all cardinal directions, developed cultures and inspired traditions within the so-called ‘Indo European realm’. Sacred melodies from Hurrian texts, Greek hymns, Gregorian chant, Ars Nova, medieval trouvère songs, Balkan, Raga, Saga and Celtic folkore, placed in a broader context of contemporary jazz, electronic vintage music and world fusion. Besides playing piano, Stormvogel’s main feature is the use of a KORG MS10 (1978), played as a medieval portative organ, mandating the monophonic single VCO analog synthesizer as a cantor voice in mystical worship. Stormvogel introduces each piece of music with colorful and erudite anecdotes, sometimes peppered with poetry, bringing “the epics and epochs” to life.

BARDITUS
Stormvogel is performing Songs from the Great Indo European Songbook in differing line up: solo, duo, trio, quartet or quintet, as a group originally called Barditus. He is accompanied by highly recognized improvising musicians from the Dutch progjazz and world fusion scene: all versatile, flexible and virtuose instrumentalists with autonomous careers and differing background. Among them tenor saxophonist Leo Janssen (principal player of the Metropole Orkest), violinist Oene van Geel (Boy Edgar 2013) and multi-instrumentalist and singer Wieke Garcia. as a breathtaking “trobairitz”. Occasionally, Barditus is joined by section players from Stormvogels’s Alter Ego Jazzbarock Consort.

Wieke Garcia foto Wieke Garcia PR

WIEKE GARCIA
vocals, percussion, cajon, harp, (guitar, gaita, hurdy gurdy)
Spanish-Frysian multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Wieke Garcia gigged as a youngster with her mother (‘Xiada’) in the Netherlands and abroad, mainly on ‘la gaîta’ (Galician bagpipes), but also on hurdy gurdy and Celtic harp, guitar and vocals. She studied latin percussion and vocals at the Rotterdam Conservatory and meanwhile developed an unique vocal style, influenced by fado, latin jazz, nordic pop and medieval music. She joined Barditus (Stormvogel) at a very young age, followed by ALTER EGO and BOHEMIAN GROOVE ORCHESTRA. Afterwards, Wieke became a vast member of the group of famous Dutch theatre artist Herman van Veen, touring worldwide until 2007. She started her own group, leading to several theatre tours in the Netherlands and the release of her own albums (Tributu, 2011, STAB Records). In 2017/2018 she is again touring with Herman van Veen, also working with Stormvogel, Thijs Borsten, Izaline Calister, Licks & Brains & Eric Vloeimans. More info: www.wiekegarcia.com

Leo Janssen foto Peter Putters

LEO JANSSEN
tenor & soprano saxophone, (clarinet, flute, recorder)
Leo Janssen was born in 1960 zuid-Limburg. Age 10 he started in local marching bands and regional brass and woodwind orchestra’s. At the conservatory he studied saxophone and clarinet, among others with tenor saxophonist Ferdinand Povel, one of his main jazz influences. Other inspiring saxophonists are John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, Jan Garbarek and Bendik Hofseth. Besides, Janssen loves traditional music from around the world, next to Bela Bartok, Richard Strauss, Frank Zappa, Hariprassad Chaurasia, Björk and Sting. Janssen is a versitale virtuoso in a great diversity off styles and genres, always playing from the heart, with open mind and in search of the original. Janssen works as a soloist and sideman with Skymasters, Metropole Orkest, Eef Albers, Peter Tiehuis, Marc Scholten, Egbert Derix, Arno van Nieuwenhuize, Thijs Borsten en Stormvogel (Global Alternative Energy Attack GAEA). With his own project ‘Echoes of the Mind’ (with Stormvogel on keyboards), Leo Janssen brings a mix of “free experiment, individual expression and deep introspection”. In 2016 Janssen released his second album. More info Leo Janssen Group

Oene van Geel foto Hans Speekenbrink

OENE VAN GEEL
violin, fx, percussion, cahon
Influenced by jazz, chamber music, Indian music and free improvisation, Oene van Geel has applied his virtuoso improvisation skills and his composition talents to a wide scope of musical activities. He toured in Europe, India, Japan, the USA and Canada. “Van Geel’s violin skills are a phenomenon. He plucks his instrument, plays it like a bass or as a guitar and he uses effects such as a wah-wah pedal. ” (Volkskrant, Koen Schouten). Besides a magnificent multi-instrumentalist, Oene van Geel is a wonderful composer. Currently he is working on a piece for the Dutch National Opera. Oene is named an “unorthodox and therefore excellent ambassador of jazz” (Trouw, Mischa Andriessen) and “a true free spirit in jazz who looks beyond genres.” (NRC Handelsblad, Amanda Kuyper). Stormvogel and Oene van Geel got acquainted through masterdrummer Chander Sardjoe and later on joined forces in progjazzgroup PitchWhiteStorm with Jeroen Pek, Onno Witte and David de Marez Oyens. More info Oene van Geel

Stormvogel
foto Herre Vermeer

STORMVOGEL
Adventurous jazzbarock keyboardist, playing piano and analog synthesizers, also a distinguished composer and poet. With his own groups ALTER EGO JAZZBAROCK CONSORT, GLOBAL ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ATTACK and BOHEMIAN GROOVE ORCHESTRA next to his Festival de Muzen (2006-2015), he earned a name in Dutch Prog Jazz, combining free improvisation with odd meters composition, integrating vintage analog synthesizers and other disciplines of art. He adopted young multi instrumentalist Wieke Garcia in 1994, in his projects Barditus, Eemsaga, Alter Ego and Bohemian Groove. Since 2008 Stormvogel is her vast leading sideman in the Wieke Garcia Group, re-uniting in 2017. Over the years Stormvogel worked with Theodossii Spassov, Tommy Smith (KARMA), Roman Stolyar, Joe Bowie, Niladri Kumar, Chander Sardjoe, Nabil Khemir, Thomas W. Andersen and a range of Dutch jazz & fusion masters like Lucas van Merwijk, Tineke Postma, Eef Albers, Ben van den Dungen, Rob van den Broeck, Jeroen Pek (PWS), Oene van Geel, Arno van Nieuwenhuize and soloists from the Metropole Orchestra like Ruud Breuls, Peter Tiehuis, Marc Scholten, Angelo Verploegen, Bart van Lier and last but not least: Leo Janssen.

Stormvogel in De Lutherse Kerk foto Nico Brons