The Bob
Rigter Quartet – LOVE YOU MADLY
(Munich Records BMCD
315).
Contents: 1. Love you madly; 2. A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square; 3. The touch of your lips; 4. The rainbow people; 5. I’m old-fashioned; 6. Everything happens to me; 7. On a misty night; 8. Polka dots and moonbeams; 9. I’ll never smile again, until I smile at you. 10. Don’t explain.
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From
the booklet:
LOVE YOU MADLY is the right
title for this great collection of songs, so skilfully selected and executed by
Bob Rigter and his soulmates. For who could not immediately fall for the smooth
and swinging way these four gentlemen go about their task. Never obtrusive or
aggressive, it actually sounds as if time had stood still! For the music does
take me back to almost 50 years ago, when both Bob and I were trying to get
through High School and we formed our own little band in Leiden.
Looking back, I must admit those were great times. We wanted to hear everything
and play it right after, eager as the young ones were. What great triumph, when
we discovered a new change, a new twist, or a new rhythmic venture in our
wonderful world of JAZZ !!!
Now, 50 years later, after all has been said and done so many times, it is truly
refreshing to listen to music that has withstood the times and has been with us
for almost as long as we can remember. One can only be grateful for the fact
that this, our music, is still being performed in the way we want it to be
played, the way we feel it, straightforward, from the heart (no bull…) !
Listen to Bob’s mellow notes especially in the ballads, as he closely follows
the beautiful lyrics. Lyrics have always been the guiding part for most of the
great jazz-soloists. Also dig his paraphrasing, a sure sign of knowledge for
those who really know!!
It is obvious the group has been together for quite
some time. Han van der Rhee is a sober, very functional
accompanist, who, as a good
pianist, knows what to leave out
and when! Simon Planting, an excellent bass-player with
a great-sounding instrument, delivers some strong solos.
Rob Engels is a sure-handed and -footed percussionist
who is at ease with sticks and brushes alike.
I could go on for hours, about
the repertoire, the significance of the lyrics, the meaning of all the notes,
etc. etc., but I won’t. As Billie Holiday said: Don’t explain.
So put your player on and
enjoy LOVE YOU MADLY!
Cees Schrama (Host of TROS-SESJUN)
About the musicians:
Bob Rigter (1934) played with Don Byas in ’56. He was asked by
Ben Webster to play on Ben’s saxophone at his last concert (6 Sept.’73). His
album ‘Touching You’ appeared in ’87 (with Simon Planting on bass). Bob
played with Scott Hamilton in ’92 (with Rob Engels on drums). In ’95 he
published the novel Jazz in de Oostzee (‘This sure ain’t no novel for
no squares, man!’ (Martin Schouten in De Volkskrant)). In ’96 a live broadcast of his quintet (with Bob and
his son Simon on tenor sax, Han v.d. Rhee piano, Hanz de Waard bass, Rob Engels
drums) resulted in a cd: ‘Five on the Rigter Scale – Live in Sesjun’. In
’99 his novel Langarm was nominated for a prestigious Dutch/Belgian
literary prize.
Han van der Rhee (1946) started out as the pianist of Freek de Jonge,
who developed into one of Holland’s great comedians. As a medical student, Han
led a trio playing in the style of Oscar Peterson. When he was completing his
dissertation in dermatology in ‘79, he stopped playing gigs, but continued to
listen intently to Bill Evans. As soon as he found the time to play jazz again,
he frequently joined the Bob Rigter Quartet from ’82 onwards. He also
continued his piano studies under the expert guidance of pianist/arranger/composer
Udo van Boven. Since ’92, Han has been the regular pianist in the quartet.
Simon Planting (1953) was discovered by Bob Rigter, playing a jam
session in the Haarlem Jazz Club in ’78. He joined Bob’s quartet for four
years, and then moved on. He played his bass all over Europe, toured the USA
with Loek Dikker’s band and did a lot of radio and television work. In ’87
he was back in Bob’s quartet. Apart from other commitments, he now divides his
time between the Bob Rigter Quartet and the band of Mathilde Santing, a renowned
Dutch singer.
Rob Engels (1950) is the brother of the famous drummer John
Engels, and clearly has the same genetic make up. When things start cooking, he
sounds like Elvin Jones. In more relaxed moods he creates a subtle but always
powerful groove. His talent for groovin’ was appreciated by the many jazz
musicians who played with him. Among those were Scott Hamilton and the Dutch
tenorists Harry Verbeke and Ruud Brink. Rob played a number of years with Al
Rogers and James Long, and joined the Bob Rigter Quartet in ’89.
Cees Schrama’s liner notes
brought home to me that time flies. Yet, through the years, the enthusiasm and
the fascination with the music have remained. I suppose that is how playing and
enjoying jazz keeps us young. I was twelve when I fell in love with jazz music. Late at
night, I used to tune in to AFN Frankfurt or Munich, hoping to hear Lester
Young. Jazz was magic. Inspired by Lester’s tone and lyricism, I decided to be
a tenor player. I saved money for an old clarinet and taught myself to play.
When I was seventeen, my clarinet-playing had earned me a tenor sax. I played by
ear, and tried to master all the beautiful songs I heard.
Once I knew the lyrics, the music started to come out naturally. I was
convinced Lester also knew the lyrics to the songs he played.
In the forties and the fifties, people danced and jived and jitterbugged to
jazz. The band had to swing and the dancers listened to every note, in order to
be one with the music. After closing-time, there were sometimes people who
lingered, while the chairs were being stacked on the tables. And once in a
while, we felt like playing some more. Drinks were handed round, lights were
dimmed and in an intimate, after-hours mood, we started to play tunes that were
special, mostly ballads.
This cd breathes the
atmosphere of those nights when we played on into the late, late hours. Even the
length of the recorded tunes is somehow reminiscent of the old 78 r.p.m. discs.
Through the years, we have
ripened, and all of the songs on this cd have acquired a rich patina of
associations with the people and places where we played. To me, still, the
lyrics are always there. Take for example A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square. I knew the lyrics before I had ever heard this
beautiful (British) ballad, for I had
read Nevil Shute’s novel Pastoral, in which a war-pilot hums this song
on his way home in a bullet-riddled plane after a raid on Germany. He has lost
radio-contact and he has little chance of making it back. His girl-friend is the
radio-operator at the airfield. He cannot hear her, but she can hear him! And,
while his bomber is slowly going down, she hears him humming: ‘The streets of
town were paved with stars. It was such a romantic affair. And as we kissed and
said goodnight, a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.’ Or take Everything happens to me, with that beautiful phrase ‘I’ve mortgaged all my castles in the
air’. Or take the lyrics of Billie Holiday’s ballad Don’t explain,
which I won't explain: the atmosphere of the ballad speaks for itself.
We have played these tunes straight from the heart. We have played
them as you hear them. No cutting, no splicing, no dubbing. And
the way we play is the way we feel. We are not pouring out a
bag of tricks, but simply singing out the melodies in our minds.This
is the kind of jazz the musicians in my quartet believe in, and it
is the kind of jazz that our audiences believe in. I count myself lucky
to be working with Han van der Rhee and Simon Planting and
Rob Engels, because of the way we can really get together in
this after-hours mood.
Now, why not turn down the
lights, pour out a drink, sit back and listen. And if you feel like dancing, or
cuddling up, be my guest!
Bob Rigter
Interested? Mail: info@bobrigter.com home