One of my favourite albums of all times, Voodoo (Wikipedia). I remember going to the record store in January of the year 2000, when it was just released. I only listened for about 30 seconds in total in the store and I knew I had to buy it and rush home to listen to it.
It didn't leave my cd player until the summer. It really shook me up. Or maybe I was just in a post-adolescent phase where everything was heavy - probably.... but I was obsessed with this album.
To me, it's transcendent music. Sounds and arrangements which go further than just notes. It sounds mysterious and magic. Sometimes minimalistic, always organic, as if everything was played effortlessly and super laidback... To many women he was sex symbol only, and maybe it was the only way to market him properly and get the music out. At the same time it distracted from his musical geniality and artistry but it created a much bigger audience with all the female attention than if it was marketed as a funk/jazz album. In the end, the music won, and I am happy for him that he's awarded with many Grammys and still continuing to create great music, even if it takes a while... Many rhythm sections were brought up with this particular album, trying to play live what D'Angelo and his band had done on this album. Shifting the beats, playing with the "time". Generations of singers have been influenced by his singing and songs, I know a few who are still stuck on D'Angelo only.. and it's hard not to. And I am always getting mad of the teacher-kind-of -persons who talk about D'Angelo's poor lyrics. First of all, he's a musician and producer, not a lyric writer. He needs lyrics to communicate the music to the majority of people who only react to music if it has vocals and lyrics in it.. To me, Voodoo is about the rhythm, chords, feel, sounds... and there are lyrics as well..
This is a tune called Kalunga Dance, from my latest album Dark Horse, order it here or buy it at a concert, the next one is Brebl, Nijmegen 1 day after my birthday on 16th of April! Hope to see you there!In this performance, we featured percussionist/vocalist and world citizen Helene Jank. She lived and worked in Brazil for quite a while and I really think it's audible here. I love the way she and the band creates this moment of space within the concert and this is also why - I think - visiting concerts is important because then you get to experience the whole context of the concert. How is the program build up, how does the audience respond and what does music makes you feel. 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. - One of my favourite albums of all times, Voodoo (Wikipedia). I remember going to the record store in January of the year 2000, when it was just released. I only listened for about 30 seconds in total in the store and I knew I had to buy it and rush home to listen to it. It didn't leave my cd player until the summer. It really shook me up. Or maybe I was just in a post-adolescent phase where everything was heavy - probably.... but I was obsessed with this album.To me, it's transcendent music. Sounds and arrangements which go further than just notes. It sounds mysterious and magic. Sometimes minimalistic, always organic, as if everything was played effortlessly and super laidback...To many women he was sex symbol only, and maybe it was the only way to market him properly and get the music out. At the same time it distracted from his musical geniality and artistry but it created a much bigger audience with all the female attention than if it was marketed as a funk/jazz album.In the end, the music won, and I am happy for him that he's awarded with many Grammys and still continuing to create great music, even if it takes a while... Many rhythm sections were brought up with this particular album, trying to play live what D'Angelo and his band had done on this album. Shifting the beats, playing with the time. Generations of singers have been influenced by his singing and songs, I know a few who are still stuck on D'Angelo only.. and it's hard not to. And I am always getting mad of the teacher-kind-of -persons who talk about D'Angelo's poor lyrics. First of all, he's a musician and producer, not a lyric writer. He needs lyrics to communicate the music to the majority of people who only react to music if it has vocals and lyrics in it.. To me, Voodoo is about the rhythm, chords, feel, sounds... and there are lyrics as well..
