Programmers page

WHEN WE WERE BIRDS

Ineke Vandoorn (voc) – Yuri Honing (sax) – Marc van Vugt (git)

Remember cheering and laughing while dancing in circles
Remember feeling free as a bird with the world turning around you

When we were birds takes you back to a state of innocence, of just being as we once were.

In 2021 Ineke Vandoorn, Yuri Honing & Marc van Vugt took the stage together for the very first time, no preparations no agreements, and played in total freedom this concert that was coincidently recorded. Just three mics and the incredible mixing craft of renown Dutch pop producer Sander van Herk is what resulted in this breathtaking and stunning album. Improvised music at the top.

ABOUT YURI HONING

Saxophonist Yuri Honing is one of the most prolific musicians in the Netherlands. A three-time Dutch Edison Award winner and Boy Edgar Award winner, he has toured worldwide with his own groups for the past three decades and worked with Pat Metheny, Paul Bley, Craig Taborn, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Charlie Haden, and many others. With over 15 million streams on Spotify and an original and recognizable sound, Yuri Honing is one of those musicians who continue to shape the Dutch cultural landscape. Whether through music or his contemporary art and sculptures, Honing continues to evolve and surprise in every way.

Best selling saxophonist, composer, triple Edison winner (Dutch Grammy), Boy Edgar Prize 2012. Worked with Paul Bley, Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ibrahim Maalouf, Paul Motion, Graig Taborn and many others.

“One of the most creative and fearless saxophonists of the moment”
The Times

‘Honing  enchants his audience’
***** De Volkskrant

“With his Acoustic Quartet the music melts into something indescribable’
***** Trouw

“The sound, vision and seriousness are all Honing’s own”
**** The Guardian 

ABOUT INEKE VANDOORN & MARC VAN VUGT

With fairy-like sounds, funky arrangements, modern music full of harrowing and twisting harmonies and sadly comforting songs, singer/pianist Ineke Vandoorn and her partner in music composer/guitarist Marc van Vugt explore boundaries in an admirable and fascinating way: between improvisation and composition, in original songs with regular lyrics and in pure improvisations, by giving their characteristic interpretation of standards or by amalgation of different musical expressions.

Marc and Ineke released 12 CD’s. Their original approach has taken them to clubs and festivals over the world, including Canada, USA, France, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Austria, Macedonia and Hungary. They recorded a.o. with the Dutch Metropole Orchestra (conducted by Vince Mendoza), composed and performed a project with Het Nederlands Kamerkoor (the Dutch Chamber Choir), and created an improvised opera collaborating with a poet.

Marc and Ineke also worked and recorded with artists like Kenny Wheeler(UK), Robin Eubanks (USA), Sylvain Beuf (F), Andy Sheppard (UK), Don Thompson (CA), David Linx (F), Norma Winstone (UK), Mario Pavone (USA),Thomas Chapin (USA), Paul van Kemenade (NL). Invited by the Dutch government, they worked and lived for two years in The Vandoesburghouse, Paris. They are both highly experienced educators as well. Ineke’s 300 page book on singing ‘Singing from the inside out’ was released in English in 2016.