My new group premiers this year in Paradox!

January 15 is the official premier of my new group RIOT in Paradox Tilburg during the Fontys Academy of Music & Performing Arts Nederlands Saxofoon Festival with saxophonist/clarinettist/composer Maarten Ornstein and percussionist/composer Bart de Vrees. We are in the process of writing new music as we speak. https://paradoxtilburg.nl/programma/riot-paradox-nls-saxofoonfestival/ It's a very exciting time in which I am rerouting my career to new paths and exploring the edges of styles. ‘RIOT’ is the final concert of the Netherlands Saxophone Festival organized by the AMPA Fontys Conservatory. Saxophonist Ties Mellema, professor of saxophone at AMPA, put together a program that marks the start of a new phase in his career. He will do this together with his new group ‘RIOT’ with saxophonist/clarinettist/composer Maarten Ornstein, percussionist/composer Bart de Vrees and students of the AMPA Conservatory in Tilburg. ‘RIOT’ will premier in jazz club Paradox in Tilburg. Ties, Maarten en Bart are members of the groundbreaking musicians collective ‘Splendor’ in Amsterdam. But their past goes back years. Ties and Bart played together in the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Maarten composed many important solo and ensemble works for Ties. In the mean time the three artists developed themselves, each on their own path. Ties decided to bring them together in a new group called ‘RIOT’ that unites their musical backgrounds into one. In Paradox Tilburg ‘RIOT’ will play new pieces that the trio made together inspired by music of Squarepusher, Boards Of Canada, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Eddie Harris, Johann Sebastian Bach, Aphex Twin, John Coltrane, Claude Debussy, and many others. An evening with soundscapes, sheets of sound, beats, improvisation and above all, everything in between.

I did it!

After yesterday's concert with the uncomparable Rembrandt Frerichs Trio and Benjamin Glorieux during The Hague's Crossing Border Festival I finally get to rest again. I had such a great and inspiring three weeks with this group. It was fantastic to come back from another year of illness and immediately have such a series of concerts ready for me to play. It also was a test, a physical and mental one. Can I play three to four concerts a week already? Can my body deal with that? Can I mentally handle the stress? Yes and no. I am writing this while I am sick, the common cold, but it still hits me harder and more often than a couple of years ago. My body is saying 'Enough! Please sit down and breath.' On the other hand I did play the concerts, and I played well. The performances gave me so much energy and inspiration. My chops are back (on all saxes! I had the quartet on stage :-), but more importantly, this kind of music making is what I need and want from music. This is it. These guys, this way of handling music, improvisation, playing composed notes the best we can, finding the right balance between being constructively critical and positive remarks, this was just perfect. Thanks guys! Rembrandt Frerichs Vinsent Planjer Tony Overwater Benjamin Glorieux And also Hugo Ticciati Klaartje van Veldhoven