... And you know what, I really believe that, for these musicians, this is only the beginning. You just hear and see!! (Maria João)
These were the liner-notes to Jacobien Vlasman's first CD "Infant Eyes", and now these words are proven to be more than right: Her new CD "vitrine vocale" was released in June 2008 by the well known label Double Moon Records, which supports together with the jazzmagazine Jazzthing young talented musicians. It is an honour and commendation to be chosen amongst hundreds of applicants.
The CD contains a lot of originals written by Jacobien and some extremely fresh arranged standards and pop-songs like "Girl from Ipanema" or "Under the cherry moon". They all get a special twist and are put into a new form.
" The voice full of power and groove, expressive mimic art and ravishing charme: that's Jacobien Vlasman. " This is how the Rheinische Post (Düsseldorf) describes the dutch singer, born in Amsterdam and meanwhile living in Berlin. Very fast she became one of the most known singers in the Berlin jazz-scene, and the biggest newspaper there, Der Tagesspiegel, was so thrilled by her performance to write: "Jacobien Vlasman is the best jazz-singer in town. [... ] Songs without any words, entangled syllables and vowels, that interrupt the stream of her alto-voice, scat-bits, percussive confetti and chattering, hackling and sighing, jubilation and eclipse: Jacobien Vlasman masters the complete language of contemporary vocal-jazz, where music is nothing but music and not any more a metaphor or mimicry. " She won the Studio-Award of the Berlin senat 1999, that enabled her to record her first CD Infant Eyes, released 2001 at Timescraper Records. 2001 she fetched the first price at the 1. Jazz&Blues Award Berlin. In October 2002, the biggest radio-station in Berlin, SFB (now RBB), invited her to record another CD, Tulips from Berlin, which hasn't appeared yet, and after that, several live-recordings followed (RBB, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Bayrischer Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Radio Bremen and others). She played allready at festivals like Palatia Jazz-Festival, Eldenaer Jazznights, Jazzfest Burghausen, Jazznights Götzis (Austria) and others. Upcoming festivals in 2009 are CityJazzNights in Braunschweig, Jazzfestival Luxemburg, Flensburger Hoftage and others. But not only in Germany she impresses with her fascinating scat-singing (Westdeutsche Zeitung). May 2000, one of the biggest TV-stations in Holland (TROS) broadcasted a portrait about Jacobien. The audience and the medias are thrilled by her quintet, her quartet and her trio (HÜFTGOLD). BLV: "HÜFTGOLD: three musicians full of ideas, that are together much more than an entire whole. " Die Norddeutsche: "The fantastic CD of a fantastic quartet with a fantastic singer is called: Infant Eyes. " Jazzthetik: "The pickup of this CD [vitrine vocale, quintet] is excellent: Jobim's famous "Girl from Ipanema" sounds so incredibly fresh, that you hilariously rub your ears. " Jazzthing: "…a voice that is able to unsettle, amaze and enchant within seconds. " RBB: "Great! "
She studied with: Maria João, Jeanne Lee, Jay Clayton, Theo Bleckmann, Bobby McFerrin, Mark Murphy, Michael Schiefel, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Lauren Newton, David Friedman, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Peter Herbert, Jamey Haddad and others.
She played and recorded with: Carlos Bica, Ed Schuller, Christoph Adams, Jürgen Friedrich, Pepe Berns, Heinrich Köbberling, Oli Bott, Thomas Alkier, Frank Sackenheim, Heinz Lichius, Stefan Weeke, CCJO, Axel Knappmeyer, Wolfgang Köhler, Jan Roder, Andreas Henze, Thomas Wallisch, Claes Crona, Julia Hülsmann, Carlo Morena, Rudi Mahall, Christian Brückner, Christian Kögel, Kalle Kalima, Andreas Schmidt, Eric Schaefer, Eva Kruse, Lisa Bassenge, Nicolai Thärichen, Bene Aperdannier, Paul Kleber, Daniel Erdmann and others.
More press:
SPIEGEL Kultur: "Spectacular how she rearranges and de-sugars the 'Girl from Ipanema'. "
Jazzpodium: "The Jacobien Vlasman quintet succeeded in making a very nice debut. A modern jazz of casually urban and thereby occasionally a stylish dishevelment: self-confident and pleasurably unorthodox. Whereas the dutch singer Jacobien Vlasman enravishes with a complexity of expression, that recalls in the nicest way, that in the ideal case the voice is an instrument capable of mutual musical communication and that is part and not only reason of an ensemble. "
Jazzthetik: "The pickup of this CD [vitrine vocale, quintet] is tremendously good: Jobim's famous "Girl from Ipanema" sounds so incredibly fresh, that you hilariously rub your ears. […] Guitar-player Kai Brückner does not only amaze by his rocking intermezzos. The whole song is, twisted into lively modern pop-jazz, a real ear-treat. […] The Singer Jacobien Vlasman delivered a remarkable debut. With rich original-compositions, wherein she articulates vividly onomatopeias with her voice or with her present timbre puts soulfully ballades into a comfortingly warm light. And in other arrangements Jacobien proves to have the right touch for re-arrangements with a sense for rough edges. With her voice she tries out quite a lot, without ever overstretching. And with sax-player Jan von Klewitz, guitar-player Kai Brückner, bass-player Johannes Gunkel and drummer Rainer Winch she has a great team backing her up, with whom she can undergo any vocal excursion with an easy conscience. "
WDR: "The Girl from Ipanema" has been sung so often, that you are allowed to ask yourself, who is entitled to do a new interpretation. The answer is: Jacobien Vlasman. The Dutchwoman sings those "worn-out songs" with such a freshness, that also "Ain't no sunshine" warms your heart again. Vlasman gives free rein to her voice: she screams and flicks, scats and hums. "
www. melodiva: "The 'Jacobien Vlasman Quintet' revives well-known classics like Girl from Ipanema or Ain't no sunshine with a refreshing easiness. Brilliant re-arrangements fuse with the voice, keen on experiments and expressive, of Jacobien Vlasman, born in Amsterdam and currently living in Berlin. She is a virtuoso with her voice and literally has incorporated scat-singing. She lives it with every single note. Each single song reflect the characteristic stages of a long, eclectic musical career. The whole album is a perfect, unpredictable ear-treat, that doesn't bore one single time and surprises until the very end. "
Rondo: "Jacobien Vlasman pricks one's ears in many ways in the course of her second CD. That is mainly because the Dutchwoman, who was nominated for "best jazz-singer of town" by the Berliner Tagesspiegel, understands her voice as an instrument. Multiple times she surprises with non-verbal vocalizing – as on the cheerful, fusion-like "…und täglich grüsst das Murmeltier" or on the dark "Ballad for a young dead man", built on iridescent vocal sound-scapes.
It is her courage for vocal experiments, at all times conclusive and logical, that differs her from most of her present singing competitors. That she's able to write songs with pop-appeal and soul at least as good ('Who are we to judge', 'I stepped into your dream') she shows just 'en passant'. On top of everything she demonstrates with her excellent band, that she can naturally take new and fresh pleasures in songs of Prince, Bill Withers or Chopin. And that is a lot more, one is used to hear on the present singing-projects produced for the mass-market. "
FAZ: "Jacobien Vlasman, the sound-artist. Her specialty is to tell strangly moving stories with jubilations, tongue-twisters, nonsens-syllables and sighing. You can look at the song-titles to understand, but you don't need to. Because that way, the secret stays the secret of a singer, who uses her voice as a autonomous instrument, who doesn't copy and thereby is able to express everything. "