Art Van Damme

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Art Van Damme

Art Van Damme (* 9. April 1920 in Norway , Michigan ; † 15. February 2010 in Roseville , California ) was an American jazz - accordionist . He was the first to interpret Benny Goodman- inspired swing on the accordion; later he worked in the field of light music.

Live and act

Van Damme began taking accordion lessons at the age of nine, having heard it for the first time at his parents' Victrola . During his school days in Chicago , where the Van Damme family moved in 1934, he concentrated on traditional accordion music and completed a classical musical education. After finishing school, he worked with a trio ( accordion , guitar and bass ) in various clubs and bars. A drummer and a vibraphonist were added later.

In the late 1930s he began to incorporate more and more elements of swing, which was extremely popular at the time, into his music. He was particularly influenced by Benny Goodman , copying some of his clarinet solos on the accordion. In 1941 he played with Ben Bernie , then in various bands in the Chicago area. With four of his friends he then founded The Art Van Damme Quintet (also written as "Quintet") around 1944 and was able to record a first album for a small record label .

In 1945 he joined NBC radio in Chicago, where he worked as a studio musician until 1960, even when he was already an independent publishing artist. He released albums for Capitol and Columbia Records, with titles like Cocktail Capers and Martini Time. Significantly, his music at that time was very much based on the swinging piano music in cocktail bars. He also played for Ella Fitzgerald , Dizzy Gillespie and others.

The relatively unspectacular and modest-looking Art Van Damme soon enjoyed great popularity in that niche of the jazz scene that was most comparable to today's lounge / easy listening . Various magazines had cover stories about him, although he was not particularly marketable in this regard.

Over time, his music became more and more similar to traditional jazz. At Columbia Records , where he was under contract from 1952 to 1965, he released many records, mostly as a leader of smaller groups. His most famous album A Perfect Match , which he recorded with guitarist Johnny Smith , also dates from this period .

After Art Van Damme left NBC radio in 1960, he opened a music store and accordion studio in Chicago, but did not give up playing concerts. He said he had so much playing time that he didn't need to practice. During his active time as a concert musician, he performed in countless clubs and hotels in the USA , Europe and Australia , but also at parties and weddings of friends where he played for free. In total, he traveled to Europe around forty times and played in the most famous clubs in America at the time. Appearances on television shows such as The Tonight Show or The Dinah Shore Show , both on NBC, were also not uncommon.

In 1965, his contract with Columbia expired and Van Damme did not want to renew it, fearing he would move even closer to the jazz mainstream . Instead, he signed with the German jazz label MPS , for which he produced 16 albums until 1980. Since then, his publications and concerts have become rarer, mostly recording albums for smaller labels. He then organized more jazz and accordion courses, which he found more interesting than club appearances, as the course participants would listen more intensively. With Tony Dannon he wrote two books on jazz arrangement ( Jazz Magic ).

useful information

  • His favorite instrument was an Excelsior accordion made in 1952
  • The European jazz accordionist Johnny Meijer died on January 8th, 1992 in Amsterdam. Art Van Damme was a great admirer of his way of interpreting swinging jazz on the accordion and then visited his grave and gave a concert in Amsterdam in his honor.

Discography

  • Cocktail Capers (Capitol, H178)
  • More Cocktail Capers (Capitol, T300)
  • More Cocktail Capers (Capitol, H300, 10 ″)
  • The Van Damme Sound (Columbia, CL-544)
  • 1953 Martini Time (Columbia, CL-630)
  • 1953 Martini Time (Columbia, CL-6265, 10 ″)
  • 1956 Manhattan Time (Columbia, CL-801)
  • 1956 Art Van Damme & Miss Frances Bergen (Columbia, CL873)
  • 1956 The Art Of Van Damme (Columbia, CL-876)
  • They're Playing Our Song (Columbia, CL-1227)
  • Everything's Coming Up Music (Columbia, CL-1382 / CS-8177)
  • 1960 Accordion a la Mode (Columbia, CL-1563 / CS-8363)
  • 1961 Art Van Damme Swings Sweetly (Columbia, CL-1794 / CS 8594)
  • 1962 A Perfect Match (Columbia, CL-2013 / CS-8813)
  • House Party (Columbia, CL-2585)
  • 1964 Septet (Columbia, CS-8992)
  • 1966 With Art Van Damme in San Francisco (MPS 15073; SABA SB 15073 ST)
  • 1967 The Gentle Art of Art (MPS 15114)
  • 1967 Ecstasy (MPS 15115; SABA, SB 15115 ST)
  • Music For Lovers Harmony (Columbia, HS 11239)
  • Many Mood Of Art ( BASF , MC 25113)
  • Star Spangled Rhythm (BASF, MC 25157) (double set)
  • 1968 Art In The Black Forest (MPS, MPS 15172)
  • 1968 Lullaby In Rhythm (MPS, MPS 15 171)
  • State of Art (MPS, 841 413 2)
  • 1969 On The Road (MPS, MPS 15235)
  • 1969 Art & Four Brothers (MPS, MPS 15236)
  • 1970 Blue World (MPS 15277; Pausa, PR 7027)
  • 1970 Keep Going (MPS 15278; Pausa, PR 7104)
  • 1972 Squeezin 'Art & Tender Flutes (MPS 15372; Pausa, PR 7126)
  • 1972 The Many Moods of Art
  • 1973 Star Spangled Rhythm
  • 1973 invitation
  • 1973/1979 So Nice! Art van Damme with Strings (MPS 15412)
  • 1983 Art Van Damme & Friends (Pausa, PR 7151)
  • The Art Of Van Damme (Phillips, B 07189)
  • Pa Kungliga Djurgarden (Pi, PLP 005)
  • Lover Man (Pickwick, SPC 3009)
  • By Request (Sonic Arts Digital, LS12)
  • Art & Liza (Svenska Media AB, SMTE 5003)
  • 1995 Two Originals - Keep Going / Blue World
  • 1998 Van Damme Sound / Martini Time (Collectables CD)
  • 1999 Once Over Lightly / Manhattan Time (Collectables CD)
  • 2000 State of Art (MPS 8414132)
  • 2000 Accordion à la Mode / A Perfect Match
  • 2006 Swinging The Accordion On MPS (Art van Damme in San Francisco)
  • 2008 The Legend - “What's New” The Scandinavian Tour (OcRecords, OcCD8104)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Death Notice: Art Van Damme . In: The Sacramento Bee , February 19, 2010