The Sit-Down Podcast with James Hurt-Susanne Alt-Saxophonist and Composer

This is the title track called Dark Horse. Just as in the album version it features sax and piano solos. It's a pretty wild performance, matching today's start of the Chinese New Year: THE YEAR OF THE FIRE HORSE!Live at Bimhuis, we added a drum solo. Afterwards, I decided to seperate it from the song and post it as an extra video below. Why not in one video?Because the video would become very very long and experience shows that people will not stick around for longer that 6-7 minutes. Yoràn's free drum solo is actually really great and in this seperate video, the true drum lovers can watch and learn from his drum story telling. Sometimes people ask me; What are drummers doing in their solos? To give you an idea of what Yoràn is doing in his solo: He starts with a pattern, an idea. He keeps the pattern going and plays variations over it. Then he combines it with soloing over it with call and reponse phrases and slides in new patterns. Technically it's interesting because he demonstrates a lot of independence and speed, as well as dynamics and sound colours, while telling a story, which means in musical context that the solo has certain elements which can be recognized by the (trained) listener. Many people in the Western part of the world miss the melodic and harmonic context during a free drum solo. It's fair to say a free drum solo without any accompaniment is like an abstract painting. Within the given context you can hear and see what you can manage, depending on your own frame of reference and expectations. In the end, it's about: does it resonate with you? Because both, the painting and the free drum solo, they lack a clear subject (no lyrics, no recognizable image), both forms are highly subjective and open to the interpretation of the audience. They function as a conversation between the artist's feeling and the viewer's/listener's perception.But you also can listen to it with a pure analytical drum ear and try to follow the patterns and phrases. As a musician and human I (try to) do both :-) Enjoy!More info:Susanne Alt: sax, Matthijs Geerts and Ike van Bergen: keys, Thomas Pol: bass, Yoràn Vroom: drums, Helene Jank: percussion Performed at 16th of January 2026 at Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Recorded by Onno Prillwitz Filmed by Robert Glass and Albert Nooij. - Thank you James Hurt, not only for playing those great notes on my last album Royalty for Real but also inviting me for this conversation!You could sit down and listen to it all at once or listen to it it bits... or take it with you while you are travelling...Description:German-born Amsterdam-raised alto saxophonist and composer Susanne Alt joins us remotely for the next Episode of the Sit-Down Podcast to share her origins story of becoming an artist beyond compromise. The segment takes us from the earliest beginnings of Susanne as a young child with two educator parents that also happen to be musicians. From early experiences with music in the most holistic way in her home environment, to learning demands and expectations, Susanne takes us through the challenges of being taught by one's parents while also revealing through experience how learning styles can be drastically differ between young girls and boys. The layers continue as we explore the way in which saxophone informed Susanne's interest beyond the canon of classical music and into areas of American music such as gospel and later funk, soul, and jazz. A new recording celebrating Roy Hargrove, Royalty for Real, reveals a heavy influence the trumpeter had on the world, the Netherlands, and Susanne directly. Susanne also shares insights as to how one may realize one's full potential as a person who wears many hats as bandleader, marketeer, booking agent, producer, musician, and indie record label executive. Background music by James Hurt.Follow James Hurt on Instagram!