This new
compilation “Young Girl Sunday Jazz” makes Greetje Kauffeld’s lost jazz songs
from the 1960s available on CD and vinyl LP. Mainly included are recordings
from the private vaults of the singer or from musicians’ and collectors’
archives, with music performed between 1960 and 1969 at concerts, in the studio
or at sessions for radio and tv. Greetje in top form, accompanied by some of
the most excellent Dutch and German jazz musicians! Moreover, all four tracks
of her first and only jazz EP from 1960, entitled “Makin’ Whoopee”, are
reissued here for the first time.
The 16
remastered songs fill a major gap in her discography. Not even one jazz record
by Greetje Kauffeld was released during the course of the 60s, although she
regularly performed on stage as a truly gifted jazz singer. Her story of a
recorded but never released Bossa Nova album, produced 1967 with Oscar Castro
Neves in Los Angeles, and its corresponding master tape that somehow landed in
the trash bin, fits well into the picture: Until today, she remains one of the
great European jazz voices of the 1960s, but without accompanying releases from
that period.
Already as a
little girl Greetje sang while listening to jazz recordings on the radio or on
records. She gained a broad knowledge of the song repertoire, by listening only
and without the need to memorize the English lyrics. Greetje had music in her
heart and knew exactly: “I want to be a singer”. In the school band “The
Raindrops” she had her first practical experience. Then in 1957 the artist
began to work in a professional environment. The German magazine “Jazz Podium”
reported: “The 17-year-old Greetje Kauffeld is the new singer of the Dutch big
band The Skymasters. Greetje made her debut in Cologne, where her predecessor
Annie Plevier found a new home. Annie has left the Skymasters because she got married
in Cologne”.
This is
something of a leap in the dark for the young and self-confident lady from
Rotterdam, who responded to a newspaper advertisement placed by the popular
Radio Orchestra under the direction of Bep Rowold. Greetje made her first appearance
as the new vocalist of the band at Guerzenich Cologne, also sang at the
Tanzbrunnen and then went on a four-week tour with the musicians through the
Ruhr area. A little later her first shellac record with the Skymasters was
released on the Dutch Decca label, but “Kindje” appeared to be a naive pop song
and a foolish idea by her record company. Her other Dutch pop records of the
time largely flew under the radar and commercially failed.
However, in
the same year the song “Who Knows Why”, with which the singer won the first
prize at the Song Festival in Venice, incorporated an intense jazz feeling.
Erwin Lehn sat in the audience and invited the young artist to work with his
Big Band of the South German Radio. As late as 1960 a recording of the song was
included in her first and only Dutch jazz EP, produced with the quartet of
saxophonist Tony Vos. This Decca 7inch record contains three more songs and
remains Greetje’s only jazz release from the 60s: “Almost Like Being In Love”,
“Makin’ Whoopee” and “Orange Coloured Sky”.
A year later
she moved to Stuttgart and topped the German charts with Schlager songs for
Polydor and Columbia. Her record bosses were happy and helped to establish the
pretty girl as a successful German pop singer. Nevertheless, in the background
she continued to focus on her jazz career, clearly audible in these recordings
with top-notch musicians, both from the Netherlands and Germany. But then,
after the beginning of the 70s and a long stay in Los Angeles, Greetje finally
left the entertainment industry and decided to devote herself entirely to her
passion for jazz, especially to the songs from the Great American Songbook.
From 1974
on, her husband Joop De Roo produced the vocal jazz albums “And Let The Music
Play” (arranged by Jerry Van Rooyen and Rob Pronk), “He Was A King Uncrowned”
and “Some Other Spring”. Most of the included songs were already re-released on
Sonorama Records and have been sold in many countries. During those times,
Greetje performed with the who’s who of the European jazz elite and with
American stars such as Phil Woods, Stan Getz, Mark Murphy or Herb Geller. In
the 1980s and 90s she also released outstanding jazz records as a freelance
singer, including the marvelous album “The Real Thing” with Humphrey Campbell.
In addition,
Greetje became a singing teacher, first at the conservatories in Hilversum and
Zwolle. Later she also worked as a vocal coach for artists like Roger Cicero or
Ulita Knaus. Her album “My Shining Hour”, released in 2005 and recorded with
the Paul Kuhn Trio featuring Paulo Morello and Kim Barth, was highly praised by
critics and audiences alike. These days, she perfoms up to 80 concerts a year,
with small and large ensembles between Trio and big band – in small clubs and
at major festivals in Germany and Holland, e.g. over twenty times at the famous
“North Sea Jazz Festival”. Thank you for the music, Greetje. Your modesty is
one of your greatest charms!
Tracklisting:
01. Almost
Like Being In Love
02. Saturday
Night
03. Fever
04. Handful
Of Soul
05. Orange
Coloured Sky
06. Love For
Sale
07. Shiny
Stockings
08. Deed I
Do
09. My Kinda
World
10. My Blue
Heaven
11. Day In
Day Out
12. Makin’
Whoopee
13. You And
I (Você E Eu)
14. It’s
Alright With Me
15. Who
Knows Why
16. Almost
Like Being In Love
~ grooveattack.com
