What’s new?

11-02-08

Time flies! It’s just a couple of months ago since the release of my second cd and I am already working on the repertoire of my third cd. I want to record it in May and release it in autumn this year. I am still thinking about special guests, I am sure I’ll surprise you…and myself, too.
I am so thankful for all the great feedback from audience, friends and critics about the last cd and the concerts we were doing up to now.

I am very happy to tell you that the “Susanne Alt Quartet” gets more and more gigs, so please keep checking my agenda regularly, and also keep an eye on my agenda on Myspace. Right now, the webmaster works on a easier solution to put the dates online quicker… The best thing is to check both, the agenda on this site AND on myspace: www.myspace.com/susannealt
Just to remind you: There you can listen to tracks and watch video clips and sometimes I write a blog about a special event.

There are some graet concerts coming up also with other people I play with: DJ Maestro, Wicked Jazz Sounds, Jazz Juice (with DJ Graham B) and at this moment I am doing some gigs with bass player Phaedra Kwant and japanese piano player Yuichiro Aratake and we are already talking about a reprise tour in Japan next year. His website is: www.aratake.net
I will do many gigs in Holland, Germany, and I am hoping that the options I have will happen: Bonaire and Curacao, Vienna (A), Copenhagen (DK), Varna (BUL), Gdynska (POL) and I am still in connection with the jazz club in Hong Kong but unfortunately the owner had some logistic problems.
Life is so exciting and it’s so good to see that stuff is happening! This will be another wild year!

Love,
Susanne

16-10-07

Dear people,

thanks for being at the release concert at Bimhuis 20th of september. It was a great experience and it wouldn't have been possible without all of you. Almost every seat was taken and I sold many cd's.
For the ones who want to look and listen back, go to my links-page on this site and click on: Susanne Alt Quartet at Bimhuis 20-09-07 Audio and Video. VPRO was so kind to record it and you can listen to the whole evening, and also an extra hour of favourite music I put together. There's 3 video clips online, too.
Within Europe you can order the cd "Delight" and of course also still "Nocturne" via this website, just click on the order-link.
If you don't want to order it online and you live in Holland go to the page on my site with all the shops in Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Breda.
If you live outside of europe you'll have to be a bit patient, it will be available via Itunes, CD-Baby etc, I'll let you know.

Right now we are updating this homepage, just come by sometimes and you'll see that we'll add reviews, photo's, concerts and other updates.

Love,
Susanne

11-09-07 - Counting down !

Just a little over a week and Delight, the brand new cd of the Susanne Alt Quartet, will be released at Bimhuis in Amsterdam!!

As of right now you can already find more information on Delight on the website. You also have the chance to pre-order Delight which means you will get it as soon as it's released!!

We will release audio samples of the cd on the site this week, so make sure you keep an eye on it!. I hope to see you all at Bimhuis in 9 days!!

X
Susanne

25-07-07 - BEIRUT TRIP !!!

In the week before North Sea Jazz Festival a mail reached me from my Myspace-friend DJ Aphreme from Poland. I’ve recorded a tune with him a few months ago. He was approached by a club scene promoter: if he would know a female sax player so they ended up with me. His name is Alphonse. He wanted a female sax player to play in Beirut at a party and it had to be fast!! If I could make it the weekend of july 13th. No, of course not because I had to play twice already at North Sea Jazz. If I could make it the week after. I was able to shift my appointments. Oh yes and if I knew a nice male saxophone player as well who could come with me and play one of the 2 gigs with me. After looking at websites of my sax friends and looking at their agenda’s and calling a few I found Cyrille Oswald. I met him a few years ago at the Dutch Jazz Competition. We were both in the final and had a nice little chat after performing. That’s it, further I didn’t know him.

Alphonse later explained to me that people in Beirut have to plan last minute because of the political situation which is stable at the moment but you never know exactly. What they know is definetely: Party party party as long as you can!!

Thurday 19th was a travel day, Friday I soundchecked and practised with dj Georgio and they explained to me that I had to play on a crane outside the building which would become erased to the same lecvel as the roof top bar… I can tell you it was kind of scary. I am not afraid of heights but yes, a crane, standing freely outside a building, about 10 meters away from the actual building… okay… to make my appearance even more special they installed fireworks on the crane. So imagine, somebody slightly neurotic like me being put into the situation of a) being on a meterhigh crane and b) having fireworks around me…that’s nightmare stuff, first fall then burn etc etc.. I have a rich fantasy. Well. It worked of course and it was a big succes. I just never had such shaky knees before in my life.

Next day, Saturday, the same procedure exept from Cyrille being on another crane and playing with me along the dj. It also worked. Of course. The party people were mainly Lebanese people which live abroad because of the political situation and enjoy summer in their hometown and visiting family. Skybar is one of the places to be in town, even Fashion TV Arabia came along and filmed us and the party people. At clubs like the Sky Bar money seems not to be an issue and beautiful women, beautifully dressed are average. I’ve never seen so many fasionable and well-taken-care-of women especially in a such big concentration as at Sky Bar. Men are ok, too, but women really stand out. That were the gigs, 2 nights playing a set on the crane with dj and fireworks.

Cyrille’s and my flight was Tuesday night so we still had a lot of time to see some of the country. Sunday I went to the beautiful beach at the city and read a book. Later that evening we went into the old town of Beirut, beautiful and well-rebuilt. We had some nice cocktails and met some nice people. Monday Alphonse took us to his parents’ house and at noon we went to the east to visit Baalbek, the oldest roman ruin ever found. We met some very friendly local people which introduced us to local habits and food. We enjoyed the beautiful valleys we drove by and finished the evening at the countyside house of Alphonse’s family with a lot of great food and Arak, the Lebanese drink.
Tuesday we went to a beautiful beach oasis north of Beirut, it was a kind of an insider tip, no fashionables and fancy people, just very down to earth ones.
We swam and played saxophone for Alphonse’s friends and had some more food and Arak and took the plane back home.

I learned that nothing is like it seems in Lebanon, that non-lebanese people can’t understand and judge on the politics. It’s a great country, there is fantastic food and drink and very lovely people. It’s so european and so arabic and so mediterranean and so different and people are rich and poor and party or don’t party at all, are politically involved or not at all. Very outspoken. Holland and Germany don’t have that extreme opposites, people and habits are a lot more mellow and similar.
As you can see it was a very interesting trip!
Stay tuned for video clips, I will post it soon at Youtube. Just type: susanne alt skybar beirut, and then you should find something….
Peace,
Susanne


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