8WEEKLY 26-04-16

Nederlands Jazz ArchiefEnglish:Saxophonist Susanne Alt hails from Germany but has long been a part of our jazz scene. Royalty For Real has the aura of a prestigious product. It is also a tribute to the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Hargrove was fond of participating in the after-hours sessions at North Sea Jazz; Alt occasionally played alongside him there – hence Bel Air Bop, one of the seven tracks. The saxophonist/flutist wrote five of the tracks herself, in addition to The Nearness of You and Roy Allan by Hargrove. The album was recorded in February 2022 in New York with pianist James Hurt, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Willie Jones III. - (click on the article to enlarge)Thank you 8WEEKLY!English:In this second edition of the Nederpop update we talk about 3 albums of international allure, albums from own soil which don’t sound like that at all. Town Of Saints, Susanne Alt and Mist will find attention far beyond the borders.Actually, “Nederpop” is not the right label for none of the bands/artists, although they all are based in th Netherlands or have their roots there. (…) Susanne Alt is competing with Candy Dulfer with her Saxify. (…)Susanne Alt in competitionIf one is not someone who persists, one might start with the second track when listening to Saxify, the new album of Susanne Alt. The openng track “Susie Saxophone” requests more listening effort and appears confusing. It’s not really a warm welcome into the world of this versatile saxophonist which Susanne Alt in fact is. How versatile she is can be heard on this mix of musical excess. For a change, not vinyl is limited, but the cd edition. The shiny disc will be available in limited edition. The standard release is a double LP with download card.When on thinks of Dutch saxophone players, one thinks of Candy Dulfer and her father. With a bit of attention Susanne Alt will win some saxophone fans on her side. The lead vocals of the title track are sung by Lorrèn, who debuted last year with Shades Of Blue. Alt plays alto and tenor sax on this track. By the way, Lorrèn is not the only guest, there are more than 30 guests from the Netherlands and abroad; and not the least! We hear musicians who played with James Brown, Earth, Wind&Fire, Tower Of Power, and The S.O.S. Band. The album is jazzy, funky and poppy at th same time. We also hear Alt’s voice for xample in “Throwback” where she sings som of the backing vocals while Fred Wesley raps/sings lead vocals. It’s a track where he sings about James Brown, The Gap Band and Earth,WInd& Fire.All music on Saxify is written by Alt. The lyrics are from others every time. 12 tracks, (twice Saxify; single version and stretched version), none of them are ordinary and of a high quality. One who suffer from narrow-mindedness, can’t place Alt, one who is broad-minded will enjoy many hours of listening pleasure.