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
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.
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