Keep (it) Swinging: Amina Figarova and her Sextet live in Porgy en Bess

AMINA FIGAROVA and her Sextet live in PORGY EN BESS - Terneuzen
What Happens On Tour Stays On Tour
Hans Koert

Amina Figarova treedt op met haar sextet in Porgy en Bess ( Nederlands) Amina Figarova and her Sextet live in Porgy en Bess - Terneuzen (English)

Her album Come Escape With Me reached the Top 10 of the JazzWeek Airplay chart for 10 weeks and her latest album Sketches even reached the top 5 range of that list. Almost unknown in Holland en Belgium she performs all over the world with her band. On Sunday afternoon the 20th of February, 2011 she played with her sextet at the Porgy en Bess Jazz Club in Terneuzen ( southwest part of The Netherlands); so ... that leaves not much to be desired....... ?

Amina Figarova ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

Her sextet features the Luxembourgish trumpet player Ernie Hammes, who also played the flugelhorn; Marc Mommaas, a Dutch tenor saxophonist, now living in New York, Bart Platteau on flutes; Jeroen Vierdag on double bass and Chris Strik on drums. Amina Figarova, born in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, studied classical music and became a concert pianist. She visited The Netherlands for some concerts and took up residence in Amsterdam ten years ago.

Bart Platteau ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

She became fascinated by jazz music, thanks to the Dutch Jazz piano player Rob Van Kreeveld. She tours all around the world with her band, which features, since it started, her husband Bart Platteau and drummer Chris "Buckshot" Strik, as her regular accompanists. Up to now she released more then half a dozen jazz recordings and wrote the music for the 2001 Joop Van Den Ende musical: Diana, de musical.

Chris Buckshot Strik ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

We zijn altijd op pad ( = We're always on tour), she started the concert in almost perfect Dutch, en we hebben onze ervaringen vastgelegd in een aantal sketches, nummers ( = and we have recorded our experiences in a number of sketches, compositions). In the liner notes of her latest album Sketches she describes it as: Travelling with our musical family brings us to most interesting, and impressive places, we meet wonderful people, and find ourselves in different situations. We have lots of fun, we love touring, and we love to share those experiences.

Ernie Hammes ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

During the first set they performed tunes like Four Steps to ....., Your Room and a composition Caribou Crossing, inspired at a trip to Canada. The tu

ne Ernie's Song, like all songs composed by Amina herself, with a great solo by Ernie Hammens on his beautiful designed David Monette flugelhorn, was originally released on her one but last album Above The Clouds. The first set was finished with the tune Flight Nº, which gave Chris "Buckshot" Strik, who got his nickname Buckshot from trumpet player Dmitri Matheny, the opportunity to show that he is a very energetic drummer. Chris, as he told me, can't remember why he is nicknamed that way Ik heb eerlijk gezegd geen idee. Is open voor interpetatie denk ik. ( = I have no idea - place your one interpration on it ....). But, if you have heard Chris beating the drums .......... Inquire with Dmitri, Chris, I'd suggest!

Amina Figarova ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

After the break Amina started with the tune WHOTSOT, a contraction from the sentence: What Happens On Tour Stays On Tour. But if you really would like to hear some of those stories, come to me after a the concert and maybe I will tell you some, Amina suggests in the liner note of Sketches, but no bedtime stories she added to it during the concert.

Jeroen Vierdag ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

The tune Breakfast for the Elephant was composed during a trip to South Africa,

where she was inspired by its wildlife wich included die kleine diertjes ( = those small animals), as she labeled them. The tune that impressed most was Back in New Orleans, which contained a great duet by Jeroen Vierdag on double bass and Marc Mommaas on tenor saxophone. We zijn er verschillende keren geweest, maar de stad, voorheen bruisend, was nu, na Katrina, leeg en verlaten. ( = We have visited New Orleans several times, but after Katrina, the city, once a city with a bustling nightlife, was now empty and deserted.). Amina joined with her band the well known New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. One of the final tunes was On The Road, with another great solo by Buckshot Strik; The tune Train to Rotterdam, the city where Amira lives now, was offered as an encore.

Marc Mommaas ( photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

The tunes played during this concert, can be found on Amina's latest record Sketches,

and, although the album don't has the long piano intro's, so typically for most of the tunes played by Amina during the concert, this album is a must-have for everybody in the audience. It was one of the last opportunities to see her live in these regions, as Amina and Bart have decided to move to New York City for a year within a few days. We hebben voor een jaar een appartement gehuurd in New York ( = We have rented an apartment in New York for a year), her husband Bart Platteau told me. De container wordt morgen gepakt ( = The container will be loaded tomorrow). But first the band will leave for Mexico for a one week tour with concerts in Cuernavaca and Mexico City and in April Amina can be heard in several US venues and festivals. Don't miss it!

Hans Koert

Please, send me your commends: keepswinging@live.nl

Amina Figarova is one of those jazz musicians, who are rather unknown in the region where they live, but famous elsewhere in the world. In the Porgy en Bess jazz club in Terneuzen in the south west part of The Netherlands, she showed that this is undeserved - she played her compositions, inspired by stories of her tours all over the world, from South Africa up to Canada. This year they move to the States to play in clubs and festivals all around the country, so ..... if you're there - don't miss it. Keep Swinging was at the Porgy en Bess concert and was impressed by the music. If you don't want to miss any contribution, follow it at Twitter or ask for the free newsletter.