SOULPRINT Fay Claassen

• 1 PURITY 03:18
• 2 VINCENTE '78 03:09
• 3 FEEL THE BEAT 06:14
• 4 SIMPLE SONG 04:26
• 5 SMILING TEARS (for Toots) 05:10
• 6 GOOD TIMES 04:35
• 7 LA DAME DU SANS-SOUCI 02:32
• 8 FAST FUTURE PEOPLE 03:28
• 9 BLUESETTE 05:50
• 10 SACRET LOVE AND SOUL ENLIGHTENING BLUES 06:37
• Total Runtime 45:19

Info for SOULPRINT

Award-winning jazz vocalist presents personal album with all-star band.

Fay Claassen is a Netherlands-based Jazz singer with a career of over 25 years and is a regular guest of highly renowned big bands and orchestras, from the Metropole Orkest, the Residentie Orkest and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra to the WDR Big Band. In 2011, Claassen was asked by pianist, trombonist and arranger Bob Brookmeyer to take the vocal role for his last album Standards (Artistshare), recorded in Munich and featuring his New Art Orchestra. Other jazz greats Claassen has worked with over the years include Toots Thielemans, Vince Mendoza, Paquito D’Rivera, Tom Harrell, Michael Abene, James Carter, Eric Vloeimans and Benjamin Herman.

Although very busy on the European continent Fay has hardly ever appeared in the UK. Last year she appeared at Scarborough Jazz Festival with pianist Barry Green who now lives in Rotterdam and rising star of the saxophone Emma Rawicz.

There has been quite a long gap since her last original band album (Luck Child, 2018), for which she won two Edison Awards (Vocal National & Audience), due to a combination of international collaborations with orchestras, her 25th anniversary tour, the pandemic, and several large-scale projects.

For the album Soulprint Claassen wrote nearly all of the material herself, or co-wrote it with her longtime bandmates: pianist Karel Boehlee, guitarist Peter Tiehuis, bassist Theo de Jong , and drummer Martijn Vink (New Cool Collective, Metropole Orchestra). Two songs were written by Claassen’s husband, Paul Heller of the WDR Big Band.

The songs on Soulprint present a musical reflection of her soul, a personal blueprint. At times quirky and complex, at others deeply connective and loving, the album tells her story as a wife, mother, and daughter and the personal development that has shaped her.

It’s nice to hear Claassen backed by a small band which generally features either acoustic piano or Fender Rhodes, electric guitar, electric bass and drums. On four of the tunes on the album there are no drums which leads to an even more intimate feel. When the drums are present they come across with real impact. On quite a few of the songs the sounds, harmonies, grooves and textures of the band evoke Steely Dan. This is an ideal accompaniment to Claassen’s voice. She has great delivery, tone, intonation and diction, with all the lyrics being conveyed very clearly.

The album opens with the song “Purity” which is a quiet rocky ballad written by Karel Boehlee and Simone Pormes. The song talks of the need to reconnect, stopping being someone else and being ready to agree to this purity.

“Vincente 78” is another light rock based song and relates the fact that she found out shortly before her father’s death that she has a half brother born in 1978 that she has never met.

“Feel The Beat” is an up tempo collaboration with Belgian singer David Linx which starts with a rubato section over sustained electric piano and guitar chords moving into a steady groove. The song features solos by guitar, electric piano and some scatting by Claassen.

“La Dame du Sans-Souci” has another lyric by David Linx, this time in French that follows a walk through Paris and is inspired by the film “La Passante du Sans Souci”. This reminds me of song that could have been written by Sting.

“Simple Song” is the first contribution by Paul Heller, Claassen’s husband and tenor sax player in the WDR Big Band. This slow shuffle has been recorded before both as an instrumental and vocal. “Good Times” is also by Paul Heller with a lyric by Robin Meloy Goldsby. This funk shuffle was written as birthday present to Claassen. This has also been previously recorded. Claassen joins in with the guitar solo on this scatting in unison then again trading a few phrases towards the end of the song.

There are two pieces on the album with a connection to Toots Thielemans, “Smiling Tears (For Toots)” and Thielemans’ jazz standard “Bluesette”.

“Smiling Tears (For Toots)” is a collaboration between Claassen and bass player Theo de Jong. This song evokes something that could have been written by Bill Evans in his latter years. This includes solos by fretless bass and piano.

“Bluesette” takes its standard intro with altered chords and changes it slightly then the song is performed as a samba rather than the usual Jazz waltz. This song allows all players to take a solo and Claassen also takes a scat solo. The intro is reused as an outro but with Claassen joining in.

“Fast Future People” written by Karel Boehlee with lyric by Claassen has a medium rock type groove and is about making one’s own choices in world driven by social media and AI.

The album finishes with the Latin groove of “Sacred Love and Soul Enlightening Blues”, a collaboration between guitarist Peter Tiehaus and Claassen. The chord progression to this song is a really good vehicle for improvisation with guitar and electric piano both soloing to good effect.

This is a very enjoyable album with some really good songs played by a fine band, showing not only Fay Claassen’s skills as a vocalist in a variety of different styles, but also as a writer.

Fay Claassen, vocals
Peter Tiehuis, guitar
Karel Boehlee, keyboards, piano
Theo de Jong, bass
Martijn Vink, drums

Fay Claassen
The Dutch power woman of jazz, Fay Claassen, is one of the best-known and most diverse singers in The Netherlands and belongs to the European top. Fay is a musical phenomenon, known for her elegance and delicacy; a sophisticated singer who does not shy away from crossovers and other genres. She knows how to move her audiences with ease with her endearing voice.

In May 2023 the new album, Symphonic Stories, is released in collaboration with the classical Residentie Orkest from The Hague. Fay performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival for nine times, and the vocalist is also frequently invited as a guest teacher at conservatories, such as Amsterdam and Antwerp.

Fay Claassen received many prestigious (inter)national music prizes. In 2022 she won her fourth Edison Jazz Award (the Dutch Grammy), making her the only Dutch contemporary vocalist to have this to her name. She also received a Golden Record and the Chet Baker Award. Fay is a regular guest with the most renowned big bands and orchestras, from the Metropole Orkest, Residentie Orkest and Brussels Jazz Orchestra to Danish Radio Big Band and WDR Big Band.

The list of renowned festivals, venues and jazz legends and other musical heroes with whom Fay has collaborated is long: from Toots Thielemans, Mike Stern, Bob Brookmeyer, Vince Mendoza, Paquito D'Rivera, Tom Harrell, James Carter, David Linx, to Dutch greats such as Eric Vloeimans, Benjamin Herman, Ilja Reijngoud and Peter Beets.

In 2022, Fay celebrated her 25th anniversary with the 10-part (!) album Fay Live, with previously unreleased live registrations. For this album she received an Edison in the Document category. This special collector’s item contains live recordings ranging from Fay with various top orchestras, such as the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, the Metropole Orkest and the WDR Big Band. She can also be heard in small line-ups such as with the Dutch favorite pianist Cor Bakker and her own Fay Claassen Band. Various collaborations and guests can also be heard such as Toots Thielemans, Ivan Paduart, Vince Mendoza, Hermine Deurloo and Michael Abene.

Fay will also focus on various new projects in 2023 and 2024, such as with Jakob Helling New Concert Band, Thierry Lang Trio and Orchestra, a tribute to Ann Burton with the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and various albums that will be released.

“Fay Claassen is to singing what Audrey Hepburn was to the movies: elegant and graceful“ - American jazz magazine CADENCE

“Dutch Jazz Diva Fay Claassen is a truly phenomenal singer“ - Latin Jazz Ster Paquito D’Rivera

“Claassen has consistently displayed her qualities, notably her impeccable phrasing and relaxed swing” – Bruce Crowther Jazz Journal, UK

“Claassen knows how to put emotion in her music. There is poetry in her vocal notes. She can sound fragile and melancholic, in interpretations that are always technically high-quality and presented with a rare elegance.” – Amanda Kuyper, NRC Handelsblad

“Fay Claassen sings straight from her heart and knows exactly how to touch the listener deep in their soul”- Cyriel Pluimakers, Jazzenzo

This album contains no booklet.