From the Dutch World Broadcaster to Norway, the jazzy journey of Frans Elpsen
Frans Elsen Septet’s legacy finds new life through exciting collaboration of music historians, musicians and Podiumkunst.net
In 1970 pianist and arranger Frans Elsen went on a trip to Norway. In a cabin, in the middle of nowhere, he worked on his Norwegian Cycle (Noorse Cyclus) of which the titles are named after small towns that Frans visited in Norway. A few years later, in 1973, a studio recording of this Norwegian Cycle was made by the Frans Elsen Septet for the Dutch Radio World Broadcaster in Hilversum. After the world-wide broadcast the tapes with recordings, photos of the studio recordings and parts of the sheet music were stored in various archives and private collections.
Frans Elsen during the recording in the NCRV-studio in Hilversum, 19 May 1972. Beeld en Geluid, Hilversum.
Frank Jochemsen from the Dutch Jazz Archive knew about the existence of these recordings in the Dutch World Broadcaster’s archive. For the project Dutch jazz from the world broadcasting archive, supported by Podiumkunst.net, he followed the path of the Norwegian Cycle, dove into archives, and spoke with Frans Elsen’s descendents and acquaintances, one of whom being Eric Ineke – the only still-living member of the Frans Elsen Septet.
The Frans Elsen Septet consisted of alto saxophonist Piet Noordijk, trumpeter Eddie Engels, guitarist Wim Overgaauw, bass guitarist Rob Langereis, drummer Eric Ineke, and percussionist Wim van der Beek. Eric Ineke writes about the formation of the Septet in Norway’s cd-book. Frans Elsen phoned him up, because “he had written a Norwegian Cycle and he wanted to perform it with a ‘hip’ group,” with Piet Noordijk among others. Tenor saxophonist and flutist Ferdinand Povel and bass guitarist Victor Kaihatu also played in the Septet at certain times.
The cd Norway with the original recordings by the Frans Elsen Septet has now been released (to be ordered here). Frank: “The thing that I found special about it: I’ve made a project of it where different parties come together. Sound and Vision, the Dutch World Broadcaster, the Dutch Jazz Archive as forerunner with the knowledge and documentation about the archives, and Eric himself. And then there’s Stichting Omroep Muziek, where parts of the original arrangements’ sheet music used for the recording sessions can be found. This sheet music is used for the concert series that’s part of the pilot and which is led by Eric Ineke.”
Skåbu sheet music for the studio recording, handwriting Frans Elsen. Stichting Omroep Muziek, Muziekschatten, Hilversum.
Recent News
Polifonia recently released results of 40 months of research and development at the intersection of musicology, semantic web technologies, AI and Music Information Retrieval. And the Polifonia Web Portal, which enhances the discoverability of European musical heritage with Linked Open Data and Knowledge Graphs, can now be explored.
Polifonia recently released results of 40 months of research and development at the intersection of…
With a strong base in academia, the Polifonia team looks forward to the conference season every year. One of the highlights is the Extended Semantic Web Conference. In this article, a brief review of our participation in this conference and update on our paper output.
With a strong base in academia, the Polifonia team looks forward to the conference season every year.…
From the beginning of the project, Podiumkunst.net and Polifonia have been in close contact and looked to each other as role models. Our stakeholder Podiumkunst.net reflects on this synergy with a positive outlook. Remco de Boer and Monique in het Veld on the importance of the collaboration and the impact.
From the beginning of the project, Podiumkunst.net and Polifonia have been in close contact and looked…
TONALITIES, IReMus’ pilot for musical heritage data project Polifonia, develops tools for the modal-tonal identification, exploration and classification of monophonic and polyphonic notated music from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Now, the tools are available for use within the TONALITIES Interface for music analysis. Additionally, a patent was recently acquired for this collaborative interface by the IReMus lab.
TONALITIES, IReMus' pilot for musical heritage data project Polifonia, develops tools for the modal-tonal…
From April 8 to May 6 Polifonia organised their own version of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Polifonia Song Contest: musicians of all levels were challenged to create the ‘soundtrack of our history’ by using samples from the rich collections in the Polifonia project. Today we can announce the winning song.
From April 8 to May 6 Polifonia organised their own version of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Polifonia…
After four years of development work, the Polifonia project team is excited to present the results. The consortium, consisting of 10 partners from Italy, the Netherlands, France, England and Ireland launches the music discoverability platform ‘Polifonia Web Portal’. In addition, the researchers and developers have also unlocked and linked other music data, developed tools and software that will help musicologists take steps forward in their research on European musical heritage.
After four years of development work, the Polifonia project team is excited to present the results.…
The Polifonia project formally ended on April 30, which means that the tools and software developed within this 4-year-project are released and ready for use. Today we look at ‘Patterns UI’.
The Polifonia project formally ended on April 30, which means that the tools and software developed…
Polifonia Song Contest is two weeks in, and will continue for another two weeks. Have you downloaded the sample pack yet?
With two weeks to go until the deadline, the "Polifonia Song Contest" beckons all musicians who find…
Are you the type of musician that is inspired by old sounds, such as cheerful Irish folk melodies, the majestic resonance of pipe organ concerts, and the timeless chimes echoing from century-old Italian bell towers? Then ‘Polifonia Song Contest’ is your challenge!
Are you the type of musician that is inspired by old sounds, such as cheerful Irish folk melodies, the…
The consortium is preparing for the last face-to-face consortium meeting of the Polifonia project in April 2024.
The consortium is preparing for the last face-to-face consortium meeting of the Polifonia project in…
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N. 101004746