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Wouter Hamel

After his self-titled, award-winning debut, Wouter Hamel is serving it up again in February 2009, with the release of his new album, "Nobody's Tune". It seems that Wouter did not go through any of the ‘sophomore syndrome' problems when it came to making this album. Hamel: "Making a CD is always very exciting and stressful, but if your debut is well received, then it also gives you the confidence to expand your horizons and to take more risks - to take everything up to a higher level." Once again Hamel sought out collaboration with the producer Benny Sings. "We agreed immediately that this album had to be more personal, somehow....while we were working on "Nobody's Tune", I got the chance to rediscover everything. Actually, I'm still surprised at what I hear when I listen to the album again now. There's folk, Bacharach influences, even some Klezmer in there. To make it even more interesting, there's even a bit of a Caribbean vibe there, too. All in all it sounds like pop from the 1970's....but that's all looking back with hindsight now. I just started out by working on my songs, and then it got completely out of control!", he says, laughing.

The title of the album refers to one of the ballads on the album. "That was the first song I wrote, it's kind of a battle song for me, personally. Just be stubborn and go your own way, and don't pay attention to anything else", according to Hamel, who received numerous popular and critical awards for his self-titled debut, including the prestigious Dutch Silver Harp award and a platinum award, for sales exceeding 28.000 copies in The Netherlands. His first album was released in several countries, with extraordinary success in Japan. Hamel: "I think, and I certainly hope that this new album is even more original than the last one, I have no idea what I can really compare it to. I've heard so many comparisons that at this point I have stopped making them myself. I hope that people really love it and that it's successful, of course. While I was writing, I always had in the back of my mind a kind of thought that the songs had to become "classics" of some kind. Songs which are timeless, that in 10 years would sound just as fantastic as they do now. We'll just have to wait and see if that dream comes true...but the will and the determination are definitely there!"

Wouter talks about the instruments involved in the creation of "Nobody's Tune": "we used the most unusual instruments we could find in order to create our own sound. We used a Hagström wind organ from Sweden, an autoharp and a mbira from America, an oversized thumb piano, Japanese bells, steel drums, a mellotrone, etc. The CD also has a richer sound due to the phenomenal contributions of a few selected guest musicians. Benjamin Herman, the celebrated saxophonist, has contributed to the album, as has singer Shirma Rouse. Also the new fresh trumpet player Kyteman not only plays but also sings on the album, and joins Kobi Arditi (trombone), and Morris Kliphuis (horns) in making a musical contribution to the new album. Wouter's own band, consisting of Gijs Anders van Straalen (percussion), Sven Happel (bass), Pieter de Graaf (keys) Jasper van Hulten (drums), and Rory Ronde (guitar) form a strong musical foundation, as always. Wouter says "...and don't forget Rory's father on steel drums, we even named the song after him, ‘Sir Henry' ".

2005: Winner Dutch Jazz Vocalist Competition
2006: Nomination for the Deloitte Jazz Award
2007: release 'Hamel' in the Netherlands
2007: Nomination for Edison People's Choice Award
2007: De Eerste Prijs Award; www.deeersteprijs.nl (prestigious award for mostly theatre productions)
2007: Release 'Hamel' in Japan
2007: Originele Rembrandt Award for 'Hamel' (award for unique Dutch music product)
2008: Essent Award 2007 at Noorderslag festival (one of Hollands most important pop-talent-awards)
2008: 'Hamel' received gold for sales exceeding 15.000 copies in the Netherlands.
2008: Zilveren Harp Award (Dutch prestigious award for most promising musicians)
2008: 3FM Award nominee, best new artist, best singer.
2008: Release 'Hamel' in Korea
2009: Theatre tour Holland throughout 40 cities
2009: Release second album 'Nobody's Tune' in the Netherlands and Japan
2009: Release 'Hamel' in Taiwan
2009: Asia Tour; scheduled for May/June (a.o. Korea and Japan).



 

 
 
 
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