Loek van den Berg
Loek van den Berg
Loek van den Berg presents ‘Seafarer’
Successor of award-winning debut album Wayfarer
His debut album Wayfarer (2022) has brought saxophonist/composer Loek van den Berg many good things. The title track was chosen as ‘Best Composition’ during the Dutch Jazz Competition and Loek also received an Edison Jazz award (Dutch Grammy) for the album in the category ‘Newcomer’. Finally, Loek has been named ‘Jazz talent to watch in 2023’ by the daily newspaper NRC.
‘Seafarer’ will be released on 31 January 2025, in a co-release by ZenneZ Records with Bertholds Records.
Seafarer is – also in terms of the chosen title – a sequel to Wayfarer. The whole can again be framed as ‘visual music’. The melody line of the title track, split into two parts, is even a variation on the melody of Wayfarer. A conscious choice according to Loek: “I see it as a logical continuation of the theme.”
Organic process
For this album, too, travels often provided new inspiration for composing. Though, Loek explains: “My pieces are atmospheric and melody-focused, they translate experiences and feelings that I have had in recent years rather than referring very specifically to a specific journey, city, landscape or event”.
He captures these impressions in a certain atmosphere that fits a melody, a bass line or a chord scheme. “Something comes up and then I start writing. After that first idea, the rest usually follows quickly.”
That was definitely an advantage in this case. “A big difference between Wayfarer and Seafarer is that the compositions on Wayfarer were created over a longer period. Now I had much less time. It was an organic process and at the same time a lot of work. The studio was already planned for the recordings, so I had a hard deadline. At a certain point it came closer and I still had to write three pieces. That was a bit stressful, haha, but in the end I even had some material left over!”
Greater layering
Another difference is that the pieces on Seafarer are more layered. “On the first album I incorporated quite a few ideas into each piece, which sometimes makes it seem as if a piece has different parts. Now I have focused on one idea per composition and have continued to develop that. I have delved deeper into composing and arranging, which is why the pieces on Seafarer have more layering.”
This is also where the analogy with the album title lies. The seafarer who makes his way across the vast sea, riding the waves over a sometimes unfathomable depth in which all sorts of things happen.
During the composition process, Loek also looked at other roles for the instruments. “What if the bass plays the melody and the wind instruments play the rhythm?”, he suggests as an example.
Understanding the total sound
A starting point that proved quite challenging for the band members during rehearsals. “But we performed 56 times with the first album, so we are well tuned in to each other. It’s also about the total sound of the composition. You have to know what the other person is playing to understand your own part in the whole. I’m getting better and better at estimating how it’s going to sound when I’ve written a composition down in Sibelius. Although I’m often still pleasantly surprised by how it actually sounds with the band.”
“In that respect, I’m lucky to have these musicians wirh me. Samnayah is a complicated piece for drums and Attic Views is tough for bass because of those long, arco lines, but Willem (Romers) and Cas (Jiskoot) still make time outside of band rehearsals to go through parts together. That shows how big the commitment is to the music I write and that’s of course super cool.”
Credits
All compositions and arrangements by Loek van den Berg
Musicians
Loek van den Berg – Alto and Soprano Saxophone, Duduk
Nathan Surquin – Trombone
Willem Romers – Drums
Cas Jiskoot – Double Bass
Aseo Friesacher – Piano and Vocals
Producer: Loek van den Berg
Recording Engineer: Steffen Lütke
Mixing Engineer: Joeri Saal
Mastering Engineer: Wessel Oltheten
Cover art album: Joshua Lambus
