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Don't Ever Leave Me

John Helliwell | Jasper Somsen | Hans Vroomans | Marcel Serierse

Don't Ever Leave Me

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917353624
Catnr: CR 73536
Release date: 04 November 2022
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Label
Challenge Records
UPC
0608917353624
Catalogue number
CR 73536
Release date
04 November 2022

"... we find the energy of an impressionist jazz improvised and attractive by the incandescent solos which uses several sound combinations to paint its music with its instrumental surroundings..."

Radio Rec, 13-4-2023
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
Press
EN
DE

About the album

In late 2019, after meeting with Challenge Records in Amersfoort to discuss my album Ever Open Door, they recommended that I should connect with Jasper Somsen. I had dinner in Amsterdam that night with him and Raimondo Meli Lupi, who had mastered my previous recordings and set-up the meetings.

Jasper struck me as an enthusiastic and determined young man and, as I was subsequently to find out after listening to him on several recordings, an excellent and creative bass player — now my friend and colleague.

We agreed to make an album. Jasper chose the other musicians and recording dates at MotorMusic in Belgium were arranged. Then Covid-19 struck! The recording was postponed many times during 2020 and 2021, although during this time we discussed which tunes would be appropriate, with Jasper writing rough arrangements. His selection of Marcel Seriese on drums and Hans Vroomans on piano was inspired — they are inventive, empathetic musicians, and a pleasure to play with!

Our selection of tunes is based on strong melodies from the fields of folk, jazz, rock, pop, and originals by Jasper and me. I suggested that we play three Supertramp tunes, as a lengthy part of my musical life has been centred around the music of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson. I first heard Don’t Ever Leave Me played by Keith Jarrett. It’s such a beautiful, short and poignant melody that we decided to play four versions and have them act as “bookends” for our music.

If you enjoy listening to this music half as much as we enjoyed playing it, our labours of love have succeeded!
Ende 2019, nachdem ich mich mit Challenge Records in Amersfoort getroffen hatte, um mein Album Ever Open Door zu besprechen, empfahlen sie mir, mich mit Jasper Somsen in Verbindung zu setzen. Ich aß an diesem Abend in Amsterdam mit ihm und Raimondo Meli Lupi zu Abend, der meine früheren Aufnahmen gemastert und die Treffen arrangiert hatte.

Jasper machte auf mich den Eindruck eines enthusiastischen und entschlossenen jungen Mannes und, wie ich später feststellen sollte, nachdem ich ihn bei mehreren Aufnahmen gehört hatte, eines ausgezeichneten und kreativen Bassisten - jetzt mein Freund und Kollege.

Wir vereinbarten, ein Album aufzunehmen. Jasper wählte die anderen Musiker aus und es wurden Aufnahmetermine bei MotorMusic in Belgien vereinbart. Dann schlug Covid-19 zu! Die Aufnahmen wurden in den Jahren 2020 und 2021 immer wieder verschoben, obwohl wir in dieser Zeit diskutierten, welche Stücke geeignet wären, und Jasper schrieb grobe Arrangements. Seine Wahl von Marcel Seriese am Schlagzeug und Hans Vroomans am Klavier war inspirierend - sie sind einfallsreiche, einfühlsame Musiker und es ist ein Vergnügen, mit ihnen zu spielen!

Unsere Auswahl an Stücken basiert auf starken Melodien aus den Bereichen Folk, Jazz, Rock, Pop und Eigenkompositionen von Jasper und mir. Ich habe vorgeschlagen, drei Supertramp-Stücke zu spielen, da sich ein großer Teil meines musikalischen Lebens um die Musik von Rick Davies und Roger Hodgson dreht. Zum ersten Mal hörte ich Don't Ever Leave Me, gespielt von Keith Jarrett. Es ist eine so schöne, kurze und ergreifende Melodie, dass wir beschlossen, vier Versionen zu spielen und sie als "Buchstützen" für unsere Musik zu verwenden.

Wenn Sie diese Musik nur halb so gern hören, wie wir sie gespielt haben, war unsere Liebeserklärung erfolgreich!

Artist(s)

John Helliwell (saxophone)

John Anthony Helliwell (born 15 February 1945) is an English musician and the saxophonist and occasional keyboardist, woodwind player, and background vocalist for the rock band Supertramp. He also served as an MC during the band's concerts, talking and making jokes to the audience between songs. Helliwell played with The Alan Bown Set, replacing Dave Green when he joined in January 1966, before joining Supertramp in 1973 along with bassist Dougie Thomson, who convinced Helliwell to make the move. In 2004, Helliwell formed the band Crème Anglaise with Mark Hart, who had joined Supertramp in 1985. This group recorded their eponymous debut album in 2005. In 1987 Helliwell played on Pink Floyd's album A Momentary Lapse of Reason; his name was misspelled...
more

John Anthony Helliwell (born 15 February 1945) is an English musician and the saxophonist and occasional keyboardist, woodwind player, and background vocalist for the rock band Supertramp. He also served as an MC during the band's concerts, talking and making jokes to the audience between songs.
Helliwell played with The Alan Bown Set, replacing Dave Green when he joined in January 1966, before joining Supertramp in 1973 along with bassist Dougie Thomson, who convinced Helliwell to make the move. In 2004, Helliwell formed the band Crème Anglaise with Mark Hart, who had joined Supertramp in 1985. This group recorded their eponymous debut album in 2005.
In 1987 Helliwell played on Pink Floyd's album A Momentary Lapse of Reason; his name was misspelled as "Halliwell". This was after Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour had played on Supertramp's album Brother Where You Bound. Helliwell also played on French singer Jean-Jacques Goldman's 1985 album Positif, and clarinet on Sara Hickman's 1990 album Shortstop.
During a professional lull in the 1990s, Helliwell began studying for a music degree at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, but he discontinued his studies to join Supertramp on tour when Some Things Never Change was released. In 2004 he contributed saxophone work on the Simon Apple album River to the Sea.
Helliwell contributed clarinet to The Pineapple Thief's song "Fend For Yourself" from their Your Wilderness album which was released in 2016.
Helliwell fronts the Super Big Tramp Band, which has a jazz big band line-up of trumpets, trombones, saxophones and rhythm section. It plays versions of Supertramp tunes, arranged by members of the band, with no vocals, but with Helliwell as the chief soloist. The band first played in Manchester in June 2013. In 2019 the band played at the Manchester Jazz Festival in May and was scheduled to play in Hull and Hamburg later in the year.
In October 2020, Helliwell released Ever Open Door, a CD album of ballads with Helliwell on saxophone and clarinet, with a string quartet and Hammond organ.


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Jasper Somsen (double bass)

Dutch double bassist, composer and producer Jasper Somsen (1973) graduated in both Jazz and Classical double bass. He is an open minded versatile musician. Best known as a Jazz musician his field of interest and expertise also includes cross overs to classical, pop, world and film music and theater productions. Jasper has collaborated with some of the very best musicians on the international jazz scene including Peter Erskine, Enrico Pieranunzi, Joey Calderazzo, Jeff Ballard, John Beasley, Jean-Michel Pilc, Eric Marienthal, Bob Sheppard, Seamus Blake, Jorge Rossy, Kendrick Scott, Justin Faulkner, André Ceccarelli, Gary Husband, Gabriele Mirabassi and Paolo Fresu. Besides a performer and composer, Jasper Somsen is a Challenge Records artist and a renowned studio producer. Jasper performs world wide and can be...
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Dutch double bassist, composer and producer Jasper Somsen (1973) graduated in both Jazz and Classical double bass. He is an open minded versatile musician. Best known as a Jazz musician his field of interest and expertise also includes cross overs to classical, pop, world and film music and theater productions.

Jasper has collaborated with some of the very best musicians on the international jazz scene including Peter Erskine, Enrico Pieranunzi, Joey Calderazzo, Jeff Ballard, John Beasley, Jean-Michel Pilc, Eric Marienthal, Bob Sheppard, Seamus Blake, Jorge Rossy, Kendrick Scott, Justin Faulkner, André Ceccarelli, Gary Husband, Gabriele Mirabassi and Paolo Fresu.

Besides a performer and composer, Jasper Somsen is a Challenge Records artist and a renowned studio producer. Jasper performs world wide and can be heard on more than 45 albums, video and film music scores. Outside a busy playing and studio producing schedule he is an educator at the ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem (NL) and the general director of the foundation Cultural City of Wageningen, in his hometown.


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Composer(s)

Lynne Arriale

Pianist/composer Lynne Arriale’s career is graced by a love of melody and a joy of musical discovery. Arriale has performed on international concert and festival stages over the past 25 years. The consummate storyteller, she immediately connects with her listeners. JazzTimes wrote, 'She achieves a special, deep connection with her audience, and the energy flows both ways. Arriale’s emotional authenticity allows her audience to feel and think along with her… Lynne Arriale’s music lies at the synaptic intersection where brain meets heart, where body meets soul. She is one of jazzdom’s most intensely unique voices.' At the core of Arriale’s appeal is her ability to communicate with her band and listeners. 'The poet laureate of her generation” (Jazz Police), her performances...
more
Pianist/composer Lynne Arriale’s career is graced by a love of melody and a joy of musical discovery. Arriale has performed on international concert and festival stages over the past 25 years. The consummate storyteller, she immediately connects with her listeners. JazzTimes wrote, "She achieves a special, deep connection with her audience, and the energy flows both ways. Arriale’s emotional authenticity allows her audience to feel and think along with her… Lynne Arriale’s music lies at the synaptic intersection where brain meets heart, where body meets soul. She is one of jazzdom’s most intensely unique voices." At the core of Arriale’s appeal is her ability to communicate with her band and listeners. "The poet laureate of her generation” (Jazz Police), her performances and recordings with her trio led to comparisons with the great trios of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, yet she has been consistently praised as having a "singular voice" as a pianist, leader, composer, and arranger. "I really can’t compare her to anyone," said recent collaborator and multi-Grammy winner Randy Brecker. "Her music transcends the word ‘jazz’ – it is just pure music." Arriale was the first prize winner of the 1993 International Great American Jazz Piano Competition, and soon launched her touring and recording career. Her 13 CDs as a leader have topped the Jazzweek Radio Charts; Inspiration and Arise reached #1 and Come Together #3, Nuance #4 and were included on numerous "Best Of" lists, including The New Yorker and United Press International. Her tenth trio recording, LIVE (CD/DVD) was named one of UPI’s Best Jazz CDs and among The New Yorker Magazine’s Best CDs of the year. Solo was named one of the top CDs of 2012 by JAZZIZ Magazine, and Convergence was named one of the top 50 CDs of 2011 by JazzTimes. Arriale was #13 and #17 in the piano category for the 2015 and 2016 Downbeat Reader's Poll.
She was selected to substitute for Marian McPartland with the 100 Golden Fingers tour of Japan with iconic jazz pianists Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, Monty Alexander, Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron, Harold Mabern, Roger Kellaway, Junior Mance and Ray Bryant. Arriale has performed and/or recorded with jazz greats Randy Brecker, George Mraz, Benny Golson, Rufus Reid and Marian McPartland, to name a few. Her international performances on concert and festival stages include the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Montreux, Burghausen, Gilmore, Spoleto Arts, Montreal, Monterey, North Sea, Stuttgart, Pori, San Francisco, Ottawa, Zagreb, Perth, Brisbane, Rouen, Cannes MIDEM, Sardinia, Rochester, Wigan, Poznan, Estoril, Palermo, Inverness, Cork and San Javier. Arriale has toured Brazil, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, France, Belgium,The Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Australia, Japan, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, China, South Africa and the U.S.
Arriale’s live TV and radio appearances and concert performances include Profile of a Recording Artist, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Jazz Set, Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland, NPR’s Jazz Piano Christmas, CNN/FN Biz, the BBC, Radio France and German National Television.Press features include Billboard, Downbeat, JazzTimes, JAZZIZ, BBC Magazine, The London Times and cover stories for JazzEd, One Way and M Magazines.
A devoted educator and Yamaha artist, Arriale is currently Professor of Jazz Studies and Director of Small Ensembles at The University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
“Lynne Arriale’s remarkable career is graced by a rare commitment to authenticity and vulnerability defined by careful craft and high artistic standards. It is precisely this willingness to remain so emotionally exposed that makes her performances so accessible to music lovers of all kinds” (All About Jazz).

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John Helliwell (saxophone)

John Anthony Helliwell (born 15 February 1945) is an English musician and the saxophonist and occasional keyboardist, woodwind player, and background vocalist for the rock band Supertramp. He also served as an MC during the band's concerts, talking and making jokes to the audience between songs. Helliwell played with The Alan Bown Set, replacing Dave Green when he joined in January 1966, before joining Supertramp in 1973 along with bassist Dougie Thomson, who convinced Helliwell to make the move. In 2004, Helliwell formed the band Crème Anglaise with Mark Hart, who had joined Supertramp in 1985. This group recorded their eponymous debut album in 2005. In 1987 Helliwell played on Pink Floyd's album A Momentary Lapse of Reason; his name was misspelled...
more

John Anthony Helliwell (born 15 February 1945) is an English musician and the saxophonist and occasional keyboardist, woodwind player, and background vocalist for the rock band Supertramp. He also served as an MC during the band's concerts, talking and making jokes to the audience between songs.
Helliwell played with The Alan Bown Set, replacing Dave Green when he joined in January 1966, before joining Supertramp in 1973 along with bassist Dougie Thomson, who convinced Helliwell to make the move. In 2004, Helliwell formed the band Crème Anglaise with Mark Hart, who had joined Supertramp in 1985. This group recorded their eponymous debut album in 2005.
In 1987 Helliwell played on Pink Floyd's album A Momentary Lapse of Reason; his name was misspelled as "Halliwell". This was after Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour had played on Supertramp's album Brother Where You Bound. Helliwell also played on French singer Jean-Jacques Goldman's 1985 album Positif, and clarinet on Sara Hickman's 1990 album Shortstop.
During a professional lull in the 1990s, Helliwell began studying for a music degree at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, but he discontinued his studies to join Supertramp on tour when Some Things Never Change was released. In 2004 he contributed saxophone work on the Simon Apple album River to the Sea.
Helliwell contributed clarinet to The Pineapple Thief's song "Fend For Yourself" from their Your Wilderness album which was released in 2016.
Helliwell fronts the Super Big Tramp Band, which has a jazz big band line-up of trumpets, trombones, saxophones and rhythm section. It plays versions of Supertramp tunes, arranged by members of the band, with no vocals, but with Helliwell as the chief soloist. The band first played in Manchester in June 2013. In 2019 the band played at the Manchester Jazz Festival in May and was scheduled to play in Hull and Hamburg later in the year.
In October 2020, Helliwell released Ever Open Door, a CD album of ballads with Helliwell on saxophone and clarinet, with a string quartet and Hammond organ.


less

Press

... we find the energy of an impressionist jazz improvised and attractive by the incandescent solos which uses several sound combinations to paint its music with its instrumental surroundings...
Radio Rec, 13-4-2023

An album full of restraint and finesse where the saxophonist and clarinetist demonstrates his art to sing the repertoire.
L'avenir, 26-11-2022

An album full of restraint and finesse where the saxophonist and clarinetist demonstrates their art of making the repertoire sing.
Jazzmania, 18-11-2022

Both Helliwel and Somsen and pianist Hans Vroomans dare to make the melodic lines sound as pure as possible. It could well be that many songs are so moving for that very reason.
Trouw, 18-11-2022

The album closes with “Blue is central“, a blues by Helliwell on clarinet, a great ending to a wonderful album.
Rootstime, 17-11-2022

As on his previous jazz album for Challenge “Ever open door” Helliwell once again proves that he is capable of much more than playing along in the corny music of Supertramp.
Rootstime, 17-11-2022

...it is a beautifully arranged, melancholic album.
De Volkskrant, 17-11-2022

Helliwell is with a consummately elegant Dutch piano trio - pianist Hans Vroomans is suitably loose when needed; bassist Jasper Somsen tonally pristine and drummer Marcel Serierse exacting and no nonsense.
Marlbank, 14-11-2022

... So "Don't Ever Leave Me" turns out to be a pretty, quite graceful album, where John Helliwell can show that he has more to offer than just blowing hooklines.
Jazzthing, 24-10-2022

Play album Play album
01.
Don't Ever Leave Me (Quartet)
02:52
(Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
02.
August Winds
03:21
(Sting) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
03.
Two Of Us
03:50
(Roger Hodgson, Richard Davies) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
04.
From This Place
03:33
(Pat Metheny) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
05.
Free Lady Butterfly
04:04
(Jasper Somsen) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, John Helliwell, Jasper Somsen
06.
Appleton Avenue
02:04
(Richard Iles) Marcel Serierse, Jasper Somsen, Hans Vroomans, John Helliwell
07.
Don't Ever Leave Me (Solo)
01:42
(Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) Hans Vroomans, Marcel Serierse, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
08.
Maybe Then I'll Be A Rose
05:41
(Savourna Stevenson, Les Barker) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
09.
Hop Sax
04:37
(John Helliwell) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
10.
Lassie Lie Near Me
04:52
(Dick Gaughan, Traditional) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, John Helliwell, Jasper Somsen
11.
The Road Back Home
06:24
(Jasper Somsen) Marcel Serierse, Jasper Somsen, Hans Vroomans, John Helliwell
12.
Don't Ever Leave Me (Trio)
01:23
(Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
13.
You Started Laughing
03:51
(Roger Hodgson, Richard Davies) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
14.
Liten Visa Till Karin
03:30
(Staffal Litton) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
15.
Just A Normal Day
04:21
(Roger Hodgson, Richard Davies) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
16.
Arise
07:18
(Lynne Arriale) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
17.
Don't Ever Leave Me (Duo)
01:32
(Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
18.
Blue Is Central
04:52
(John Helliwell) Marcel Serierse, Hans Vroomans, Jasper Somsen, John Helliwell
show all tracks

Often bought together with..

Live At The Berlin Jazzbühne Festival 1982
Philip Catherine | Nicolas Fiszman
Mel´s Vision
Alex Sipiagin
Blues & Bach - The Music of John Lewis
Enrico Pieranunzi Trio | Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana | Michele Corcella
Various composers
Seraph
Tine Thing Helseth
The Bari Session
Paul Wertico | John Helliwell Project featuring Raimondo Meli Lupi & Gianmarco Scaglia
Ever Open Door
John Helliwell

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Jasper Somsen | Paul van der Feen | Bert van den Brink
Don't Ever Leave Me (vinyl)
John Helliwell / Jasper Somsen / Hans Vroomans / Marcel Serierse
Saudade, Colour of Love
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