MARCEL VAN CLEEF
Rising star. Subtle talent. Solid performance. Raw emotion.
The story of Marcel van Cleef (Nijmegen, the Netherlands) is short but surprisingly powerful.
He picked up the drumsticks when he was only 2 years old. At the age of 12 he made his appearance into the local music scene. Long before graduation from the Conservatory, he shared the stage with internationally acclaimed artists.
Van Cleef is well known for his down to earth view on life matters. Especially striking is his own characteristic musical approach. He always finds ways to blend elements of Rock, Jazz, Blues and Latin together into his own interpretations. His performances are extremely creative, vivid, and solid. His work exhales raw emotion.
His technically high performance playing is self-restrained and always serves the music itself and its overall sound. Van Cleef excels in making extremely complex arrangements sound open, fresh, and at times surprisingly simple. He adds an irresistible sense of humor to it.
Van Cleef's convincing performance and straightforward approach brought grist to the mill. Here are a few flourishing examples:
* As a member of the Dutch bands 'Patso' (Rock), 'One Warp'(Fusion) and the German bands 'The Henning Wolter Trio' (4th CD release of this Jazz formation is expected in March '05), and the 'Stephan-Max Wirth ensemble' (CD released September '04), he's performing life on stage on a highly frequent basis in Holland, Germany, Belgium, Scandinavia, and France.
* As an answer to the limited local educational possibilities for enthusiastic young musicians, he established his own school of music at the beginning of 1998. This 'Music Factory' is presently running on full capacity. In addition van Cleef started his private 'Drumschool' in 2000.
Van Cleef's permanent band members are:
- Wiro Mahieu on base; winner of the Wessel Ilcken Award '96 (annual national Jazz talent contest).
- Jaap Berends on guitar; graduated in the USA as a student from Scott Henderson, and played in bands with Jeff Berlin, Scott Kinsey, Kirk Covington, Joe Diorio and Sheila E.
- Henning Wolter; Jazz pianist and composer.
On many occasions he finds himself being accompanied by other musicians like Jazz trompettist Eric Vloeimans, Jazz tenor-saxofonist Gerd Dudek, who from the seventies on is a member of the WDR Bigband (WDR is one of the main German television stations), and stage guest of many American celebrities.
Van Cleef is a rising star, a subtle talent, who will keep you focused until the very end, through his tremendous creativity, solid performance and raw emotion.
Marcel van Cleef
Email info@marcelvancleef.nl
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