Ronja
Innocent eye, Chrystal see
Ufopia
My funny valentine
Bo3eog
Voices
Haitoe
Karna-Tic
Oceania
Ufopia Duo
Song for mete

Harmen Fraanje Quintet

Harmen Fraanje, piano
'Magic' Malik Mezzadri, flûte et voix
Nelson Veras, guitare
Hein Van de Geyn, basse
Matthieu Chazarenc, batterie

Né aux Pays-Bas, Harmen Fraanje débute très jeune le piano. A sa sortie du conservatoire, sa carrière décolle rapidement. Il commence à composer, et la nécessité de former son propre groupe s’impose comme une évidence après sa rencontre avec le guitariste brésilien Nelson Veras. Rejoints par le batteur français Matthieu Chazarenc et Hein Van de Geyn à la basse, Le Quartet était né. Outre les activités avec son groupe, Harmen est de plus en plus sollicité par des musiciens déjà bien établis. Ses collaborations avec le trompettiste Eric Vloeimans ou le guitariste Anton Goudsmit l’ont conduit aux quatre coins du monde. Quelques concerts joués en 2004 et 2005 aux côtés du phénoménal "Magic" Malik Mezzadri, l’ayant beaucoup inspiré musicalement, Harmen a décidé de l’inviter avec le groupe lorsque cela est possible, et d'enregistrer son nouvel album avec lui. Cela se concrétise dans l’enregistrement présenté ici.

Pianist Harmen Fraanje was born in Roosendaal (Holland) and has been playing piano since an early age. After studying and graduating at the conservatories of Tilburg and Utrecht his career took off very rapidly. Harmen started to write his own music. The need to form his own group became obvious and after Harmen met Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras, his quartet was born. The drum chair was taken by French drummer Matthieu Chazarenc and on bass Hein Van de Geyn was an obvious choice. The group started to work and the sound of Harmen's band was becoming stronger and more personal. In 2003 the group recorded their much acclaimed first CD, Sonatala (Challenge Jazz SACHR70116), followed by Boompetit in 2005 (CHR70123) and Avalonia in 2010 (CHR70154) that received rave reviews all around. Besides the activities with his own group, Harmen was sought out increasingly by other established musicians. His collaborations with trumpeter Eric Vlœimans and guitarist Anton Goudsmit took him all over the world. In 2004/2005 some concerts were done with the phenomenal "Magic" Malik Mezzadri, and this was so musically inspiring that Harmen decided to add Malik to the group when possible, and record his new CD with him. This resulted in the new recording that is featured here.