''Express Yourself'' is a 2004 (see

2004 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2004. Specific locations * 2004 in British music * 2004 in Irish music * 2004 in Norwegian music * 2004 in South Korean music Specific genres * 2004 in classical music * 200 ...

) album featuring a jazz trio, led by the

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jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist and composer Erik van der Luijt.

History

In April 2003 Erik van der Luijt decided to record a new album and within a month he had picked 15 jazz standards, most of them from the repertoire he had been playing with his trio for the past seven years. However, three days before the original recording date he changed his mind. Van der Luijt quotes the fact that two members of the trio had recently married and all three had recently become a father as the drive behind the album. An increased sense of responsibility made them search more than ever for a distinctive style in order to draw more attention to themselves. Three days before the original recording date he decided that recording standards was not the best way to do this and began writing his own compositions. The trio recorded them without rehearsal, but decided to wait until the new material had grown on them. In the following months Van der Luijt wrote forty compositions. These were all recorded (at Donk Studios in the

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) to be able to analyse them in the best possible way. At that point drummer Philip ten Bosch had to drop out. He had taken a full-time job to be able to support his family. This was a major setback to the project because his original style of drumming had become an important part of the trio's sound. He was replaced by Victor de Boo, who had briefly worked with Van der Luijt years earlier. The album ''Express Yourself'' was hailed as "a masterpiece" in the press. "Erik van der Luijt knows his

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

Tommy Flanagan Thomas or Tom Flanagan may refer to: * Thomas Flanagan (bishop) (1930–2019), American Roman Catholic bishop * Thomas Flanagan (Irish politician) (died 1980), Irish civil engineer and politician * Thomas Flanagan (priest) (1814–1865), English Ro ...

and

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

and used their influences to create an exquisite mixture in which coquetry and adventure go hand-in-hand. At times he even comes close to Flanagan's masterpiece Jazz Poet. Those who know this monument from the piano discography, appreciate that there is hardly a bigger compliment." - Jeroen de Valk, Het Utrechts Nieuwsblad

Track listing

#"Corleone" – 5:21 #"Keep On Walking" – 4:34 #"Havana Blue" – 3:25 #"Minor Changes" – 7:30 #"Mucho Macho" – 5:46 #"Nostalgia" – 4:51 #"Me And My Guitar" – 4:10 #"Ilse & Ellen" – 4:41 #"Land of the Triplets" – 4:52 #"Skyscape" – 4:24 #"No Guts No Glory" – 5:41 All music composed by Erik van der Luijt

Personnel

* Erik van der Luijt -

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Branko Teuwen -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Victor de Boo -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

References

External links

Official Web Site of Erik van der Luijt
{{Authority control 2004 albums Erik van der Luijt albums