In the mid eighties they becam

e famous at once due to the program

Fellini/Rota.This w

as a combination of scenes from

various movies by Fellini (la Strada, la

Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Amarcord, Rom

a etc.) accompanied by live m

usic from Fellini's

composer Nino Rota. The m

oving and melancholic but often also funny m

usic byRota w

as adapted by the leader of the band Bo van de Graaffor a modern jazz-

septet and they left more than enough space for im

provisations. They played thisprogram

many m

any times nationw

ide and also international. Bo van de Graaf visited Fellini at his film

-studio (Cinecitta) in Rome w

here he surprised Fellini byoffering him

the first record from I Com

pani.

i compani is m

ore than simply a jazz-band

>>>

i com

pani

i com

pani

www.icompani.nl

i compani

Oude W

eurtseweg 29 6541 PK N

ijmegen H

ollandtel &

fax:+ 31 24 3785041

mail:icom

pani@planet.nl

website:w

ww

.icompani.nl

som

e o

ther p

roje

cts and

tours

Christmas Circus

Utrecht (1989-1997)

Example

an education musical for kids from

8-12 years old (1993)D

irty Minutes

tour with new

compositions by Bo van de Graaf (1993)

Festival10 years I Compani (1995)

Gluteus M

aximus

project about “Buttocks” (1997)Sum

mer-roofs

open air tour summ

er (1999)H

is master,her voice

with theatre com

pany Flint (2000)AID

A *according to I Com

pani remake of Verdi’s Aida (2001)

FELLINI *

Ode to Fellini who died 10 years ago (2003)

Festival20 years I Compani w

ith new m

usic (2005)O

amor natural * tour w

ith video, music and poetry

by Carlos Drumm

ond d’Andrade (2005)

* actual repertoire

Fellini spiced jazz !!!!

Although I Compani is still playing the m

usic from Rota (regular in new

arrangements), they do

have more of their ow

n repertoire in their program. These pieces of m

usic are mainly being w

rittenby Bo van de Graaf. I Com

pani "sings many tunes", as there are influences from

(free) jazz, funk,m

odern classic, circus-music, w

orld-music etc. But they clearly do have their ow

n sound. The music

is very dynamic and surprising. Very easily they m

anoeuvre between absurdities and easily change

style. Regularly guestsare being added to the cast. Such there w

ere: trombonists Joost Buis,

Bernard Hunnekink, Nico Nijholt and Chris Abelen (also known from

the Willem

Breuker Collective);trum

peter Felicity Provan; guitar-player Corrie van Binsbergen; saxophonists Maarten van Norden,

Fred Leeflang, Frans Vermeerssen; Celloplayer Ernst Reijseger, Singers Quirine M

elssen & Simin

Tander, and many m

any other Dutch Jazz-musicians.

Besides the medium

'film' the elem

ent of theatreplays an im

portant role. Actors, clowns, acrobats

and dancers contribute to the show during m

any concerts. The last few years I Com

pani works

together with veejay

Martijn Grootendorst.

I Companiplays concerts on the m

ost diverse music-platform

s. Big and small jazz-venues, (film

)fes-tivals, schools, outdoor events etc. Som

e highlights are those on festivals such as: Boulevard ofBroken Dream

s, The Dutch Film-days, The Night of Poetry, Am

sterdam Uitm

arkt (many tim

es), The'Klap op de Vuurpijl' (organized by W

illem Breuker) W

interparade Amsterdam

1999, Parade 2001.Film

and Jazzfestivals in Belgium, France, Great-Britain, Germ

any, Portugal,Switzerland, Austria and

twice on the North-Sea-Jazz-Festivalin The Hague.

From the start in ‘85 throughout 2005 I Com

pani performed m

ore than 800 times

in concerts andshow

s. I Compani acted as a guest in radio and television-program

s from Dutch, Belgian, French

and German channels.

the musicians

Bo van de Graafsaxophones +

bandleaderFrank N

ielandersaxophones

Jeroen Doom

erniktrum

pet Jeroen van Vlietpiano Carel van Rijn

bass Fred van D

uijnhovendrum

sH

ans Hasebos

keyboards Tessa Zoutendijk

violin M

artijn Grootendorstveejay

cd’s i compani

the cd FELLINI was chosen as the best jazz cd from

2004 by some critics in the Dutch 'Jazz' m

agazine

discography– Music to the films of Fellini LP BVHAAST 1985

– Music to the films of Fellini LP & CD ITM Germany 1988

– Ecco, more music by Nino Rota LP BV Haast 1988

– Luna Triste CD BVHAAST 1990

– Sogni D’oro BVHAAST 1994

– I Compani plays Rota BVHAAST 1995

– Gluteus Maximus BVHAAST 1997

– AIDA BVHAAST 2001

– Top 10 hits by I Compani IC 001 2002

– Package Deal BVHAAST 2002

– FELLINI icdisc.nl 0401 2004

– Ticket (Bo van de Graaf Solo project) icdisc.nl 0501 2005

press quoteA Germ

an paper wrote these w

ords after a concert ofI Com

pani at the 'Passau Jazz Festival':

...... the music of I COM

PANI offers a kaleidoscope ofhum

an moods, form

s of expression, temperam

ent,that often change w

ithin the concert style of the pie-ces. But even in the w

ild and stormy cascades of

notes, the lyrical mom

ents predominate. I COM

PANI islike a living organism

, always m

oving and developping.The reserved and airily orchestrated pianoplaying, thepervasive sounds of the bass, this is m

usic to get lostin. It is realistic and surrealistic, full of spiritual andm

ind expanding power. M

usic that makes its ow

ntim

e, that doesn't care te grasp reality, but is realityw

ith all the dreams and illusions that com

e with it.