Nico Schepers wails on Maynard's Theme from Rocky

When I first became aware of the Netherlands Trumpet Party, I thought “I’ve gotta get in on this.” I contacted Marcel Schot of Atelier Pfeiffer, the premier brass shop in the Netherlands and sponsor of the Trumpet Party, and he graciously invited me to attend. I had checked out their website, and based on the prior three years’ events, it sure looked like fun. Little did I know just how much fun it was actually going to be.

I immediately booked my flight, scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam two days before the party. When I got there, Marcel picked me up at the airport and thus began my week of trumpet fun in the Netherlands.

Atelier Pfeiffer is a small shop filled with an amazing variety of trumpets, trombones, woodwind instruments, mouthpieces, and accessories. It was founded by Josef Pfeiffer in 1928 and has been in the same location for over 60 years! Both Marcel and Dennis van der Kamp (Marcel’s second in command) are extremely knowledgeable regarding all the products they carry and are more than willing to spend the time necessary to help a customer choose what is best for him or her. They have an on-site repair shop which is supported by a complete repair and production shop at their parent company, Music All In.

I spent most of that Saturday meeting players at Atelier Pfeffier and talking trumpets and mouthpieces. I was struck by how friendly and knowledgeable the players were. They take their playing very seriously all the while having a great time. The day was heavenly for a trumpet junkie like myself.

The party was held the following day at the brand new Theatre de Muze in Noordwijk, a small town on the North Sea not far from Amsterdam. Theatre de Muze is a state of the art small venue indoor theatre complete with electric grid, Midas / Meyersound PA and a bar in the back of the room.

On the day of the party, Marcel, myself, and his colleague Marcel Boom spent the morning setting up the microphones and other necessary equipment to make a multi-track recording of the event. Mr. Boom, who is an accomplished remote recording technician, set up a great direct-to-hard-disc rig and associated processing gear to document the party.

All was in place for the 11:00am rehearsal/soundcheck. The program consisted of 31 trumpet players who rotated in and out of the trumpet section of the smokin’ Holland Big Band led by Loet van der Lee. They were the house band for the event and provided a solid platform as many of the players were featured on different parts and solos. No one held back at the rehearsal and it was then that I truly realized the extremely high quality of trumpet players in the Netherlands (a relatively small country).

Downbeat for the concert was at 3:00 pm, and by 2:30 they were forced to turn people away at the door as the theatre was already packed with over 400 people ready to party.

The program started right on time and without a hitch with the Holland Big Band playing their rendition of Flight to Nassau. As the show progressed and the crowd loosened up, the musicians got more and more into it. By the time Nico Schepers played Maynard’s Gonna Fly Now toward the end of the show I thought the crowd was going to erupt; the energy in the room was so incredibly high and we were all having such a great time.

I highly recommend Trumpet Party 2006 (on May 28) to anyone looking for a great trumpet hang in a wonderful country. You can bet I’ll do everything possible to be in attendance. Thanks again to Marcel and Atelier Pfeiffer for putting on such a cool show!

Complete Program:

Flight to Nassau - Holland Big Band (HBB)

• Leader: Loet van der Lee
• Trumpets: Erik Veldkamp (lead), Kurt Weiss, Jasper Gloerich, Herwin Lokken, Mike Booth
• Trombones: Frans Cornelissen, Michael Rorby, Lucian Mc Guiness, Marcel Schot
• Saxes: Werner Jansen, Jorg Kaai, Remko Keizer, Kees van Dooremalen, Lars Ditrich
• Drums: Klaas Balijon
• Piano: Bas van Lier
• Bass: Ben Jansen
• Guitar: Jeen Rabs
  

Sidewinder – HBB

• featuring an all ladies trumpet section: Edith Gloerich, Jackie T, Ellister vd Molen, Wuipke Pahrmann
  

Walking Tiptoe – HBB

• featuring Ack van Rooyen (flugelhorn)
  

Count Bubba – HBB

Honesty – HBB

• featuring Loet van der Lee (flugelhorn)
  

Boulevard of Broken Dreams – HBB

• featuring Michael Varekamp & Marcel Reys (trumpets)
  

Manteca

• Trumpets: Rini Swinkels & Friends - Rini Swinkels, Wim Both, Jan
  Wessels, Ray Bruinsma, Sander Sweerink, Roeland Cleijne, Erik Hilferink,
  Loet van der Lee, Diederik Ruisch, Nico Schepers

el Dopa – HBB

• featuring Erik Veldkamp (trumpet)

Intermission

Trumpet Party Fanfare – Arranged by Jan Wessels

• Trumpets: All 31!
• ... and some players from the audience.

Emanon – HBB

Tour the France medley – HBB

I Could Happen to You – HBB

• featuring Jan Wessels (flugelhorn)

Chops a la Salsa

• Royal Navy band trumpets: Frank van der Poel, Jacco Groenendijk, Marcel Jungen, Peter van Dinther, Monique de Rooij
• special guest Erik Veldkamp.

Trumpetparty

• Royal Navy Band trumpets & Erik Veldkamp

Havens – HBB

• featuring Mike Booth and Loet van der Lee (trumpets)

Straight No Chaser – HBB

• featuring the Metropole trumpets (Jan Oosthof, Wim Both, Henk Heijink, Jan Hollander)

Gonna Fly Now – HBB

• featuring Nico Schepers (trumpet)

The Heat's On - HBB

Links:
Netherlands Trumpet Party (in Dutch and English)
Atelier Pfeiffer (in Dutch)