[Dixielandjazz] Robert Veen R.I.P

[Marek Boym]

Thank you, Bill.
I have already received the birth year from Jazzman Joe and Bert.  The
former found it in a write-up on one of the bands with which Veen played.
I tried "Robert Veen biography," and got various and sundry but not the
right one.
The Lunceford Project was a big band, based on the Beau Hunks, at least the
version I heard in Breda and which was later presented at the North Sea
FEsival.  Might have bee pruned down later.  Veen visited the Library of
Cpngress for that project and played many numbers from the Lunceford book
thelatter never recorded.  But what I liked most was his playing with the
Aces of Syncopation and other traditional bands.
Cheers

On 1 April 2015 at 01:01, Bill Haesler <bhaesler at bigpond.net.au> wrote:

> Marek Boym wrote:
> > Sad news indeed.
> > Although Robert Veen said that he was a 'bopper at heart," it luckily
> didn't show in his playing with the bands Bert mentioned, nor other bands I
> have heard.
> > I tried to find out his age, but failed.  Anyway, he passed away too
> soon and too young...
>
> Dear Marek,
> Far too young.
> Here is a comprehensive biography I found.
> Kind regards,
> Bill.
>
> Robert Veen
> [January 20, 1956 – Enschede], Robert Veen has made a name for himself in
> the world of traditional jazz and swing. Robert is a musical multitalent:
> in great demand as a guest solist, arranger, composer and teacher. At the
> same time he is always on the look-out for the "ideal" saxophone and
> mouth-piece.
> Robert completed his studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in
> 1985, specialising in alto saxophone; in his everyday musical practice,
> however, he plays all saxophones, the clarinet and the flute. As a member
> of the Tribute Big Band, under the leadership of John Clayton, he played
> with celebrities like Sarah Vaughan, Harry Edison, Snooky Young, Buddy
> Tate, Monty Alexander, Milt Jakson and Al Cohn. For years he was a
> permanent member of Harlem Bound, the Down Town Jazz Band and The New
> Orleans Syncopators. He has given guest appearances with an impressive
> number of orchestras, bands and well- known Jazz-greats at home and abroad,
> like Spiegle Wilcox, Bob van Oven (formerly Dutch Swing College Band) and
> Mike Goetz. Robert can also be heard regularly playing with Joep Peeters
> and his Gumbo Gabbers. As a tutor/"professor" and as a solist he belongs to
> the regular team running the annual Traditional Jazz Workshop in Lenk
> (Switzerland). Robert is one of the driving forces behind The Beau Hunks,
> an orchestra which engages a range of changing musicians and is involved
> both in live performances and recording. Some examples of their CDs are:
> the film music composed by Leroy Shield for the Laurel and Hardy films, the
> Suites by Ferde Grofé and the attractively idiosyncratic music of Raymond
> Scott. The Beau Hunks Saxophone Soctette, an orchestra consisting of 13
> musicians, including 9 woodwind instrumentalists, performs regularly in the
> great concert halls of the Netherlands and Germany. At this moment the Beau
> Hunks are touring with their "Jimmy Lunceford Project". Several CDs of The
> Beau Hunks have been produced on the Basta label, some of them with Al
> Gallodoro and the Metropole Orkest. Also worth mentioning is Robert's
> membership of the the Aces of Syncopation. Robert is known for his close
> proximity to and love of Sidney Bechet and the traditional French jazz
> repertoire.