‘Funk and Fireworks’ with Susanne Alt at the Last Jazz aan de Sjtasie
After this coming weekend’s edition, Jazz aan de Sjtasie in Swalmen will come to an end. During the farewell weekend, among others, Susanne Alt will perform—saxophonist and DJ in one.
SWALMEN
PAUL VAN DER STEEN
Saxophonist Susanne Alt (47) has been performing with DJs since the late 1990s. In 2015, a booker called her with the question whether she also DJed herself. As a joke, she answered “yes.” And if you say A, you must also say B… “I took a few lessons to learn how to DJ and then just put in the hours. It has enriched me. As a saxophonist, you’re more focused on your own solos. A DJ needs to have a much broader perspective. You have to sense the atmosphere. Then you decide what kind of music is needed. There’s also quite a bit of technical knowledge involved.”
In 2016, she decided to combine playing saxophone and DJing for her tour with the funky album Saxify. That act grew into Venus Tunes Live, the formation with which she will play at Jazz aan de Sjtasie in Swalmen this coming weekend. “No matter what lineup we perform with, it’s always only women. That’s been a wish of mine for a long time. Because of the automatic way in which male bands are always booked again and again. You rarely see women even in supporting roles or only as singers.”
Highlights
The band’s lineup changes. “It also depends on the wishes of whoever books us and what else is on the program. Sometimes it’s me with one singer and one percussionist, with all three of us DJing as well, to two singers, a violinist, a percussionist, and myself on sax and as DJ. The music also varies, depending on the type of audience and the atmosphere: sometimes it stays fairly mellow, other times it’s all about funk and fireworks.”
Alt, born in Germany but now living in the Netherlands longer than she ever lived in her homeland, wants performances to be more than one-way traffic. “They only become real highlights when there’s social interaction: between musicians and with the audience. You can move people with your playing, but also get them to sing and dance along.”
Tribute
Besides Venus Tunes Live, Alt still tours with the material from her jazz album Royalty for Real, which was released early last year. The idea for that album arose during the pandemic. “With all the time to reflect, I concluded that it was time for a real jazz project and it became a hommage to trumpeter Roy Hargrove (1969–2018). I’ve always admired him. Because of his playing, with which he could say so much with so few notes. Especially his ballads have always stayed with me. Also I loved the way he approached jazz; he always was looking for jazz sessions where he could join and play, encourage other musicians.. I recorded Royalty for Real in New York with musicians Roy often played with.”
Hargrove, along with Joshua Redman, was one of the musicians who first introduced the then-teenage Alt to jazz. “Both my parents worked in music. But they didn’t listen to jazz. I myself had classical saxophone lessons since I was twelve. In Bavaria, where I grew up, saxophone was mainly destined for concert bands. But I knew the saxophone was also a real jazz instrument.”
Videotapes
Alt went looking for the music herself. “I would record jazz concerts on videotapes that aired on TV at night. And I went to the library to read biographies of musicians and dive deeper into jazz history.”
Hargrove and Redman were not only gifted instrumentalists, but also young and cool. Years later, she met them at jam sessions at festivals like North Sea Jazz.
“I didn’t push myself forward there, but waited calmly for my moment. If you didn’t immediately play a five-minute solo, the famous Americans also liked getting to know the local musicians that way. I immediately had a good connection with Hargrove. A kind of friendship developed.”
In the coming years, Alt wants to play many styles mixed together and provide entertainment. “For me, there’s only bad and good music. I like to contribute to good music. And in my case, it preferably has to groove.”
Susanne Alt met klassiek groove-geluid als van fluweel
Susanne Alt, alto saxophonist, DJ, and composer, delivers an album with 'Royalty for Real' that would fit well in the heyday of instrumental funk jazz. The sound of the Fender Rhodes, combined with melodic grooves on the alto saxophone, brings to mind Bob James with David Sanborn or Andrey Chmut.
Alt lives in Amsterdam but was born in Germany. Initially, she studied classical saxophone and won the Siemens Prize for young talent in 1996. Her first CD, Nocturne, showcases those classical influences. She moved to the Netherlands to study jazz saxophone in Hilversum and Amsterdam. She was one of the first musicians to enliven Amsterdam's nightlife by performing live with DJs. Now, her own DJ sets are an important part of her work, alongside playing with her quartet, session work, and collaborations with DJs and groups such as Fred Wesley, Hardsoul, and Wicked Jazz Sounds.
'Royalty for Real' is now her sixth studio album. It was therefore somewhat surprising to find little information about it on the online jazz channels. Alt is clearly a perseverant artist with three conservatory studies under her belt and multiple self-produced CDs to her name. That may be rectified in the future, and then we can ask her how she managed to record an album with the rhythm section of Roy Hargrove. The royalty referenced in the title is trumpeter Roy Hargrove, to whom the CD is dedicated.
It turns out that Susanne Alt did not sit idle during the lockdown period. In February 2022, she spent a few days in the New York Eastside Sound Studio with pianist James Hurt, double bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Willie Jones III. The finishing touches were later applied in Sapphire Studio in Amsterdam, The Hague, and New Jersey.
The opening track, "Roy Allan," is by Hargrove. Jazz enthusiasts know Hargrove for his hard bop or ballads on the flugelhorn. He was a beloved session musician and recorded extensively, solo, with his quintet, and with his Roy Hargrove Big Band. Additionally, there are countless recordings with others, including Manhattan Projects, Erykah Badu, Jimmy Griffin, and many others. He contributed to the first album of Buckshot Lefonque and toured and recorded with D'Angelo.
Susanne Alt knows him personally from his performances at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. There, she met him and played together during the legendary jam sessions at the Bel Air Hotel. It left a lasting impression on her. Besides Hargrove's musicality, Alt praises his openness and positive demeanor in a radio interview. She learned from him that it's important to give each other space, listen to one another, and, when appropriate, dare to compliment each other during jam sessions. That can be hard to find in the macho music world. Hargrove passed away at the age of 49 from a hereditary disease, but he left behind a rich legacy, to which this tribute can now be added.
The album lasts about 45 minutes and is divided into seven tracks. Besides the opening track "Roy Allan" (Hargrove) and "The Nearness of You" (Hoagy Carmichael), Alt wrote all the titles. "Blue Notes & Fairy Tales," the second track, brings a change in tempo but remains consistent in melody and approach with the first track. It is a funky groove played on the alto saxophone over a bed of Fender Rhodes, drums with plenty of cymbal work, and additional percussion. The double bass is subtly mixed deep into the piano sounds. The main role is reserved for the saxophone.
In "Bel Air Bop" (a nod to North Sea The Hague), the Fender is replaced by a grand piano. Georgie Fame would know what to do with the melody and would immediately come up with lyrics for it. After the sax solo, a 'classic' piano solo by James Hurt follows. Hurt is a seasoned jazz pianist who has worked with Abbey Lincoln, among others. The drum solo follows, showing that drummer Willie Jones III is not just anyone. He toured with Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, and... with Roy Hargrove. Double bassist Gerald Cannon has played with greats like Art Blakey and was part of Hargrove's rhythm section with Willie Jones III for some time. In short, Alt is well surrounded here. Nevertheless, she stands her ground as the leading performer.
The track "Classy Cats" could also be called "Classy Scats." It invites you to sing along with the long, flowing saxophone lines. "The Nearness of You" was a favorite ballad of Hargrove. He often played ballads on his flugelhorn, and it is evident that Alt was inspired by his sound. The saxophone here sounds with full, warm notes like velvet.
"Royalty for Real" has become an attractive and balanced album with an almost classic groove sound that fits a calmer time. Several tracks could easily work as a theme tune for a television program.
A male American trumpeter serves as inspiration for a female saxophonist who originally studied classical music in Germany. It remains remarkable that the spark can jump across the world again and again, as long as one musician is open to the other. Royalty for real!
MONICA RIJPMA
The now sixth album by saxophonist Susanne Alt is a tribute to the jazz trumpet legend Roy Hargrove, who passed away much too early in 2018. Alt recorded this CD during the corona pandemic in the Eastside studio in New York, together with James Hurt (Fender Rhodes, piano), Gerald Cannon (bass), and Willie Jones III on drums. All these musicians have performed with Hargrove at some point.
Alts' "Bel Air Bop" is a flashy number in which this rock-solid rhythm section propels the whole, punctuated with a busy drum solo and a virtuosic piece of piano playing. As an unconventional accompaniment, Alt has played a velvety flute arrangement underneath: chapeau! "Classy Cats" is my favorite, with two alternating contrasting parts, one of which at 9/8 always seems to go off the rails again. The Sinatra number "The Nearness of You" Alt turns into a very relaxed sultry ballad. Thanks to the long melodic lines with softly blown notes and a touch of vibrato, you almost want to listen forever... Until the beautiful solos on the last track "Royalty for Real" bring you back to earth.
(MK)
Bop, soul, blues, funk—Susanne Alt's jazz is immediately captivating upon the first listen, thanks to its colorful variety, as well as its groovy and melodic nature. Add to that a highly refined sense of improvisation, and you have a perfect and accessible jazz album. A collection of very diverse tracks that effortlessly shift from nocturnal moods to lively swing passages, all with ease for this German saxophonist (alto and tenor), accompanied on this occasion by drums, double bass, percussion, Fender Rhodes, and piano. Superb!
The presentation of Royalty For Real, the new album by Susanne Alt, undeniably has allure: a beautiful cover, and as a prestigious anchor, a deceased jazz great: Roy Hargrove. He was a trumpeter, but that is not a problem for the saxophonist-flutist, who has been making a name for herself for quite some years (...).
On this album (recorded in New York, with seasoned musicians such as drummer Willie Jones III and pianist James Hurt), the German living in Amsterdam plays seven pieces that relate to Hargrove. From his album Family (1995), she chose his work Roy Allan and the standard The Nearness of You; the other tracks are her own compositions. Like the impressionistic Rue Lepic (the Parisian street where Van Gogh lived) and the lively Bel Air Bop. Music without thistles or thorns.