TOON USES SD SYSTEMS MICROPHONES WWW.SDSYSTEMS.COM  AND PLAYS SELMER SAXOPHONES WWW.SELMER.NL 

by Ton van Leeuwen

Dear visitor,

Welcome to my site, enjoy the visit. The year 2008 was very rewarding for me and 2009 again is going to be a special one. Not only because we have a beautiful new American president... After the well received album Love Revisited that we produced with the quartet, a new album with one of my favourite American drummers Peter Erskine is coming up. Pure jazz with a lot of funky grooves. It's gonna be great... read more further on. Another  great thing is that my quartet will be touring Europe in June & July 09 as an opening act for the one and only Steely Dan!

Also a Dutch theatre tour of the quartet with guest singer Humphrey Campbell is scheduled for February/March 2010.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me, I hope to see you at one of our concerts.

Wishing you an inspiring year with lots of beautiful music...

Peace is the deepest groove.

Toon

Buy Love Revisited at the WEBSHOP or on

Listen to more albums of Toon on

www.myspace.com/toonroos

by Jos L. Knaepen

Coming up:

TOON ROOS QUARTET IS OPENING ACT FOR STEELY DAN TOUR 2009

The Toon Roos Quartet received an honourful invitation to tour as an opening act for Steely Dan. Walter Becker, who met Toon in Amsterdam eight years ago, called Toon in March this year and asked him to open the shows of Steely Dan on their European summer tour. The TRQ will be performing in venues like the Hammersmith Apollo in Londen and the Olympia in Paris.

DON'T MISS IT!

On tour with Steely Dan the Toon Roos Quartet will perform groovy and lyrical originals from several albums of Toon like The Human Feel and Love Revisited. Listen to some songs on Toon's My Space site www.myspace.com/toonroos

For more information on Steely Dan and their complete summer tour 2009 visit

www.steelydan.com

TOON PRESENTS NEW ALBUM ANGEL DANCE WITH PETER ERSKINE

coming up on 30 October 2009 in the Bimhuis, Amsterdam

The Toon Roos Group will present their new album Angel Dance on 30 October 2009 in the Bimhuis, Amsterdam. Line up of this new band is Toon on saxes, Karel Boehlee on piano & synths, Hein van de Geyn on double bass and drum legend Peter Erskine on drums. The album, with nine original songs by Toon, Karel an Peter, will be released worldwide in October 2009 on Peter Erskine's label Fuzzy Music. The music is colourful, lyrical and funky...

More concerts are planned for 2010, and will be announced on this site.  Read more on Peter and his label on www.petererskine.com

The Toon Roos Group in the studio after the recordings... Karel, Hein, Toon & Peter.

by Hilbert Kamphuisen

On Saturday 15 November 2008 Toon performed with drum legend Peter Erskine in Bonn, Germany. Peter's manager in Europe, Marieke Pieters, brought Toon and Peter together and suggested them to do a performance. Peter needed a band for the concert in Bonn, and after hearing the CD Love Revisited he invited Toon and his quartet members Karel Boehlee and Hein van de Geyn to do the concert. Peter also accepted Toon's invitation to go into the studio  and record a new CD of Toon with this group.

Toon & Peter by Hilbert Kamphuisen

On November 15 they played at a sold out Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. The first set Peter performed his own songs with the quartet and a new composition of Toon called 'Obama Song'. After the break Peter played a set in duo with percussion/drum legend Alex Acuna, as a tribute to Weather Report, the legendary fusion group of which both drummers were members in the 70's and 80's. Alex also played with the quartet that night.

Two days after their performance in Bonn Toon, Peter, Karel and Hein went into Lex Tanger's 'Studio -2' at the Amsterdam Conservatory and recorded a new album of Toon. Nine original songs, of which five composed by Toon, two by Karel and two by Peter, were recorded in one day, most of them first takes. The music turned out to be inspired, groovy and lyrical... Like Peter said right after the recordings: 'it's gonna be a great album.' Plans are made to do live concerts with this group.

Karel is really happy with the recordings... by Hilbert Kamphuisen

Karel, Hein, Toon & Peter in the studio... by Hilbert Kamphuisen

Relaxing backstage in Bonn. by Franc auf dem Brinke

On stage in Bonn with Karel, Hein, Peter and Alex Acuna. by Franc auf dem Brinke

TOON ROOS QUARTET / LOVE REVISITED

In 2008, Toon Roos celebrated his 25th anniversary as an artist with the presentation of his new CD ‘Love Revisited’. On this album Toon revisits the romanticism of the jazz standards combined with original compositions. On Saturday 2 February 2008, his fifth CD was presented to the audience with a performance at a sold out Bimhuis in Amsterdam and a special appearance of Hans Dijkstal as guest speaker. This was the start of their CD promotion tour.

The new Toon Roos Quartet has an all-star line up with Karel Boehlee on piano and synthesizer, Hein van de Geyn on double bass and Joost van Schaik on drums. Sound, groove, lyricism and interaction are key elements in the performance of this quartet. Toon: ’After the funky jazz of ‘The Human Feel’ and ‘Free At Last’ I felt an urge to return to the acoustic quartet and the never-ending potential of the standards. It feels like flying a private jet, heading for the most exciting destinations.’

Bimhuis, Amsterdam - February 2008 by Fred van Wulften

Love Revisited demonstrates the powerful chemistry of the TRQ, especially between Toon and Karel, a partnership that goes back many years. With Toon, Karel recorded the album ‘Attitudes’ in 1987 and ‘Free At Last’ in 2003. He is one of the most creative pianists in the Netherlands, and has developed a personal style of playing, lyrical with an intense groove.  Karel and bass player Hein van de Geyn know each other well, travelling together as regular band members of the Toots Thielemans Quartet, touring in several European countries, South Africa, Brazil and Japan. Karel teaches piano at the jazz department of the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Read more about Karel on www.karelboehlee.com.

Hein van de Geyn has been establishing himself as one of the most sought after bass players in Europe. He has worked with numerous celebrities like Chet Baker, Lee Konitz and Dee Dee Bridgewater and regularly works with John Abercrombie in his own band 'Baseline'. Hein is head of the jazz department of the Rotterdam Conservatory. Read more about Hein on www.baselinemusic.nl

Joost van Schaik is one of the finest jazz drummers from the Netherlands with great musical understanding and a serious groove. He plays with several jazz groups and has worked with many great artists such as Curtis Fuller, James Moody, Toots Thielemans, Lew Tabackin, Bert Joris, and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. He has been teaching jazz drums at the conservatories of Rotterdam, Groningen and Enschede since 2001.

Successful  performances of the Toon Roos Quartet in recent years were amongst others the Bird Award concert at the North Sea Jazz Festival 2001, the concert at the Kurhaus in The Hague in 2002, and the concert on Valentine's Day 2003 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.       

'Love Revisited' offers interpretations by the TRQ of songs with an attractive variation in groove, energy and atmosphere. It features classics such as Parker’s ‘Au Privave’, a straight ahead blues, the Brazilian warmth of Jobim’s ‘If You Never Come to Me’ and Shorter’s more spacious ‘Footprints’, seducing the quartet to more open, interactive group playing. The relaxed and happy swing of ‘I Thought About You’ is Toon’s tribute to one of his main sources of inspiration, the Capitol Years of Frank Sinatra. Different colours also come from the two romantic originals, ‘Little Princess’ by pianist Karel Boehlee and Toon’s ballad ‘Return To Happiness’, the duo song that ends the album.

Track list Love Revisited:

1. Au Privave - Charlie Parker

2. If You Never Come to Me - Antonio Carlos Jobim/Ray Gilbert

3. On Green Dolphin Street - Bronislau Kaper/Ned Washington

4. I Fall In Love Too Easily - Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn

5. Footprints - Wayne Shorter

6. Never Let Me Go - Jay Livingston/Raymond B. Evans

7. Little Princess - Karel Boehlee

8. I Thought About You - Jimmy van Heusen/Johnny Mercer

9. Return To Happiness - Toon Roos

Listen to the compilation of Love Revisited

CD is released 2 February 2008 on Green Heart Records (GHRCD 2008/01).

The CD is for sale at concerts of Toon, the WEBSHOP, jazz record stores,

&

The CD is distributed by Baltic Nederland / Bertus. 

PRESS ON LOVE REVISITED

Telegraaf: 'Magnificent... with a warm tone!'

Hifi Video Test: 'Beautiful, well-balanced and mature jazz.'

Volkskrant: 'Fresh... charming...'

Muziekpodia.nl: 'Atmospheric jazz is the result of this remarkable quartet.'

Jazzflits: 'Congratulations in every way for this swinging production...'

Read the reviews & interview (Dutch) :

concertverslag Bimhuis jazzpodium.com

recensie CD Love Revisited jazzpodium.com

concertverslag Bimhuis muziekpodia.nl

bespreking CD Love Revisited muziekpodia.nl

interview Toon Roos muziekpodia.nl

Read more at pages BIOGRAPHY (English) & BIOGRAPHY (Dutch)