Etienne Verschueren
Etienne Verschueren (born December 24, 1928 in Ronse ; † June 19, 1995 ibid) was a Belgian jazz musician (piano, saxophone, also accordion and organ), composer and big band leader.
Life
Verschueren, who came from a musical family and as Swingkid came to jazz, studied in 1945 at the Conservatory of Ghent piano; In addition, there was a private training in harmony . The saxophone playing, he brought himself as self-taught in, so I can work as a professional musician in the orchestras of Willy Albimoor and Mickey Bunner, where he both as a pianist and as a tenor saxophonist was active. In the band of Jack Sels , with whom he toured Germany from 1952 to 1953 (in the GI clubs), he switched to the alto saxophone . He later worked with the Belgian Blue Birds of Roger Vanhaverbeke , only to play the trumpet Janot Morales. He was increasingly active in the bebop scene around René Thomas , Jacques Pelzer , Jean Warland and Fats Sadi . As a studio musician , he was also active as an accordionist from 1955. He also began to write as an arranger for Caterina Valente , Dalida and Charles Aznavour .
In 1959, Verschueren became a member of the radio orchestra of the Institut National de Radiodiffusion , which was directed by Henri Segers . He began to compose for this formation; his music for the television series Suite en seize received the Rose de Bronze in Montreux in 1963 . In the same year he moved to the broadcaster BRT , where he was appointed head of the BRT Radio Jazz Orkest in 1965 . Under his leadership, this big band became an important institution on the Belgian music scene, playing compositions by Francy Boland , Jean Warland, Michel Herr , Freddy Sunder and Bob Porter . Elias Gistelinck also regularly brought her to the Middelheim Jazz Festival , where she presented international guest soloists such as Jerzy Milian .
In addition, from 1969, Verschueren led a sextet with Nathan Davis , which toured internationally and performed at the 1970 Montreux Jazz Festival . In 1977 he founded the quintet Bop Friends (with Nick Fissette, Tony Bauwens , Roger Vanhaverbeke and Freddy Rottier), which recorded two albums. As a saxophonist, he also appeared under his own name on the album Early Spring , which he recorded in 1983 with pianist Charles Loos as well as Roger Vanhaverbeke and Freddy Rottier. He also presented a big band album with Jack van Poll in 1970 . Tom Lord has 42 recordings with him in record studios.
For health reasons, Verschueren had to give up playing the saxophone in 1985 so that he concentrated on the piano and writing. He also worked as a film composer and wrote the soundtrack for Une femme entre chien et loup (1979) by André Delvaux .
literature
- Emile Henceval Dictionnaire du jazz à Bruxelles et en Wallonie Liege 1991
Web links
- Jazz in Belgium (portrait with discography)
- Brief portrait ( Memento from November 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- Portrait (The Belleman)
- Etienne Verschueren at Allmusic (English)
- Etienne Verschueren in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tom Lord: The Jazz Discography
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Verschueren, Etienne |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian jazz musician, big band leader and film composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 24, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ronse |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 19, 1995 |
| Place of death | Ronse |