Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Boogie Hoogie

( Naar de Nederlandse vertaling.)
I grew up at a small village school in Hoedekenskerke, a small village at the borders of the Westerschelde, the Scheldt estuary, in the south western part of The Netherlands.
My school was very small, only 25 children I guess, all together in one class room. My teacher. Mr. Arendse, had a piano in the class room. At noon he played a Dutch children tune ( Honger Smaakt Rauwe Bonen Zoet) about raw beans that make you hungry and even today as I hear that song I'm getting hungry again. When he moved to another school he couldn't take along that instrument, so ..... I got it from him. I started private lessons in piano playing in Goes, the nearest town at Mr. de Graaf's house - I think he won't remember me, as I was not his most diligent and talented student. Instead of learning the etudes of Czerny, scales, up and down and back again, and triads and that kind of terrible stuff I remember, I studied boogie woogies and ragtimes at home. One of my heroes was, of course, Rob Hoeke. Rob Hoeke, born in January 1939, was at that moment the most well known boogie woogie piano player in The Netherlands. Of course I had heard about the great veteran players like Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis, but the music I had on a Joker LP was transferred in a terrible way.
Rob Hoeke founded his first Boogie Woogie Quartet during the mid 1950s featuring himself at the piano, Wim Bitters on guitar, Kees Kuypers bas and his brother Paul Hoeke on drums. They became known due to the fact that they won prices at the Loosdrecht Jazz Concours early 1960s. Thanks to this success they were allowed to make a record, titled Boogie Hoogie for the Philips label. I found a great film fragment from a Polygoon film journal, as played in the cinemas, about the Blues- and boogie festival for amateur piano players in Bergen, in the north western part of The Netherlands, probably somewhere in the 1970s. The Dutch speaking visitors of this blog will understand the commend of the announcer; others should know that the film fragment shows the winner of the contest, Gé van der Pol. The members of the jury were the three major boogie woogie piano players of the Netherlands, Rob Hoeke, Jaap Dekker and Rob Agerbeek. The piano player who sings is Rudy van Ingen and the woman is mrs. Bluys. The final shot is the winner Gé van der Pol playing a boogie together with the three members of the jury. ( quatre-main ( each piano player used one hand I guess))

A few weeks ago I was so lucky to find this first LP ( maybe not the original release, but a Philips reissue in the series Favorieten Parade by Philips.) The album contains twelve tracks, most Rob Hoeke's own compositions, with titles as Astri's Blues, Jungle Boogie, Schoolday Boogie and Breakdown Boogie.
Some tunes are originally played by the great boogie woogie legends, like Meade Lux Lewis's famous composition Honky Tonk Train Blues and the Boogie Woogie Stomp as played by Albert Ammons. Rob Hoeke founded his Rhythm and Blues Group and made a career in this kind of pop music. In Four Hands Up he made a very popular boogie woogie album with Hein van der Gaag. Rob Hoeke passed away November 1999 in Krommenie.
I love to share with you a fragment of Albert Ammons playing the Boogie Woogie Stomp. (1944)


This small instrument might be recognizable. Who can tell me the name of this instrument and what it has to do with this Keep swinging web log? Replies to keepswinging@live.nl and of course I will publish the names of the true connoiseurs later.




AT RANDOM:
Off Minor - THELONIOUS MONK Septet: featuring Thelonious Monk piano, Ray Copeland trumpet, Gigi Gryce alto sax, Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane tenor sax, Wilbur Ware bass and Art Blakey drums.
Recorded in New York City 26th of June 1957 for Riverside.


Time exposure for the 12th of December:
1927:
  • my blue heaven = lillie delk christian
  • my ohio home / so tired = jean goldkette o

1937:

  • sentimental gentleman from georgia / she's got me worried = leon lone stars cowboys

1947:

  • my lovin' papa = dinah washington
  • bye bye baby / hey pretty baby / it's monday everyday / ready let's go / robbin's nest = count basie o
  • man with one million dollars / shakey breaks the ice = joe mooney quartet

1967:

  • hip vibrations / moanin' = cal tjader o

1987:

  • bird of prey music / blues minor / crazy rhythm / daphne / domino / felicidade / it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing /nuages / opus 5 / roi de saba / song d'automne / tears / tiger rag / what a night = crazy rhythm
Keep swinging

Hans Koert


keepswinging@live.nl

PLAYLIST
thelonious monk/monk's music = lecuona cuban boys/venezuela 1940 = lee morgan/indeed !

Nederlands ( To the English translation )

Ik ben opgegroeid in een klein dorpje aan de Westerschelde, Hoedekenskerke. Mijn school bestond uit maar één lokaal met maar 25 kinderen op de hele school en één meester.
Mijn onderwijzer, meester Arendse, had in het lokaal een piano staan, waarop hij elke dag om 12 uur speelde over Rauwe bonen die zoet waren .... voordat we tussen de middag naar huis mochten. Als ik dat liedje hoor, gaat mijn maag als vanzelf weer knorren. Toen hij naar een andere school verhuisde, kreeg ik zijn piano. Dus ging ik op "privéles" bij De heer De Graaf in Goes, de dichtstbijzijnde stad. Hij zal me wel niet meer herinneren, aangezien ik niet zijn meest ijverige en meest getallenteerde leerling was. In plaats van de etudes van Czerny, die vervelende toonladders, omhoog en weer omlaag en die zogenaamde drieklanken oefende ik thuis niet .... wel speelde ik boogie woogies en ragtimes. Mijn grote held was Rob Hoeke, geboren in januari 1939, die op dat moment de bekendste boogie woogie pianist van Nederland en omstreken was. Natuurlijk had ik wel eens gehoord van de grote boogie woogie pianisten zoals Albert Ammons en Meade Lux Lewis, maar hun muziek kende ik alleen van slecht heruitgebrachte opnamen op het Joker label.
Rob Hoeke frichtte zijn eerste Boogie Woogie Kwartet op midden jaren zestig met hemzelf aan de piano, Wim Bitters op de gitaar, Kees Kuypers bas en zijn broer Paul Hoeke op slagwerk. Ze werden bekend omdat ze op het Loosdrecht Jazz Concours begin jaren zestig allerlei prijzen in de wacht sleepten. Philips gaf hen de kans om een plaat te maken en dat werd de LP Boogie Hoogie. Ik vond een schitterend filmfragment van een Polygoonfilm, zo één met die overal herkenbare donkerbruine bioscoopstem. Het fragment gaat over het Blues- and boogie festival voor amateur pianospelers in Bergen. De commentator geeft uitleg.

Een paar weken geleden was ik zo gelukkig om die eerste LP van Rob Hoeke te vinden ( waarschijnlijk niet de originele uitgave, maar een heruitgave in de Philips serie Favorieten Parade.) De plaat bevat 12 nummers met voornamelijk eigen composities met kllinkende titels als Astri's Blues, Jungle Boogie, Schoolday Boogie en Breakdown Boogie.
Er staan ook een paar nummers op van de grote legenden, zoals het bekende Honky Tonk Train Blues van Meade Lux Lewis en de Boogie Woogie Stomp zoals die gespeeld werd door Albert Ammons.

Ik vind het leuk om ook nog eens zo'n klassieke boogie woogie reus te laten zien: Albert Ammons met de Boogie Woogie Stomp.(1944)

Rob Hoeke richtte later zijn Rhythm & Blues Group op en maakte in die populaire muzieksoort carriere. In Four Hands Up maakte hij later nog een succesvolle boogie woogie plaat met Hein van der Gaag. Rob Hoeke overleed in november 1999 in Krommenie.

Dit instrument kennen de meeste lezers wel, denk ik. Hoe heette dit instrument en wat heeft het te maken met dit Keep swinging onderwerp? Stuur je gedachten hierover naar keepswinging@live.nl en natuurlijk genieten de ware kenners weer eeuwige roem in deze blog.



AT RANDOM:
Off Minor - THELONIOUS MONK Septet: met Thelonious Monk piano, Ray Copeland trompet, Gigi Gryce altsax, Coleman Hawkins en John Coltrane tenorsax, Wilbur Ware bas en Art Blakey drums.
Opgenomen in New York City 26 juni 1957 for Riverside.


Tijdopname voor 12 december:
1927:
  • my blue heaven = lillie delk christian
  • my ohio home / so tired = jean goldkette o

1937:

  • sentimental gentleman from georgia / she's got me worried = leon lone stars cowboys

1947:

  • my lovin' papa = dinah washington
  • bye bye baby / hey pretty baby / it's monday everyday / ready let's go / robbin's nest = count basie o
  • man with one million dollars / shakey breaks the ice = joe mooney quartet

1967:

  • hip vibrations / moanin' = cal tjader o

1987:

  • bird of prey music / blues minor / crazy rhythm / daphne / domino / felicidade / it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing /nuages / opus 5 / roi de saba / song d'automne / tears / tiger rag / what a night = crazy rhythm
Keep swinging

Hans Koert


keepswinging@live.nl

SPEELLIJST
thelonious monk/monk's music = lecuona cuban boys/venezuela 1940 = lee morgan/indeed !
Keep Swinging Oscar Aleman Flexible Records Choro Music Hit of the week - Durium

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2 Comments:

Blogger Jo said...

Thank you, Hans, for sharing nostalgic moments of the past, when the boogie woogie flue got you. Entertaining video-fragments inserted - boogie woogie has always been a popular style with the general public, I guess, maybe because it's so predictable and open to any kind of show-off ... just count 12 to the bar in 4/4, right? - The terrible instrument shown at the picture-quiz may be an electric piano, maybe even an electric 'organ' - definitely not a Hammond B3, but perhaps an early 60s issue of this hybrid kind of instrument. Disgusting, I remember my own father's experimenting with this kind of stuff in my youth, when the grand pianos were out of vogue in popular music ...

Jo

9:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi there,

I read your blog and had a great time there,like a trip in a timemachine.
In an item about Rob Hoeke and Boogie Woogie there was a picture where you asked the name of the instrument.

I don't know if you still want to know but it's a Philicorda.
He used it on the album "Rob Hoeke and his Quartet - Boogie Hoogie" (Mono)and there is a picture of the Philicorda on the back of the cover.

Greetings from Leeuwarden,

Jim P.

4:30 PM  

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