Nederlands Blazers Ensemble
Rameau & The Greeks
Sometimes the best programmes and the most exciting connections originate by accident. Whilst in Greece, jazz pianist and arranger Julian Schneemann played his father the music that he was listening to a lot at that moment. An opera overture of the French baroque composer Jean Philippe Rameau was followed by a rousing piece from the Cretan folk hero Giorgos Xylouris, in whose work centuries old folk music plays an important role. Father and son looked at each other, and the seed for Rameau and the Greeks was sown. "It is a magical combination" says Julian Schneemann whose arrangements of both the songs of the Cretan musicians and Rameaus works were tailored to suit the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble and the Cretan guest musicians. "Rameaus work is dance music at its core," explains Julian Schneemann. "Furthermore he utilised certain effects very roughly to create an atmosphere or to imitate nature. Those elements also play a role in the music of Giorgos Xylouris and his ensemble."