‘Blues uit Breda en Utrecht’ by Ed van der Meer | New Album by Slack Gang & Surprieze Member
Ed van der Meer was previously covered in It’s Psychedelic Baby! Magazine about his bizarre 1973 release ‘Zeer Oude Klanken en Heel Nieuwe Geluiden’ and about his band Slack Gang.
Now he is releasing his new album ‘Blues uit Breda en Utrecht’. A physical CD is expected to follow this digital release in het spring of 2024.
‘Nickle Nickle’:
‘Two Girls’
‘Harpblues’
‘Caledonia’
‘Checkin’ on my Baby’
‘Merry Go-Round’
‘Further on up the Road’
‘Jazzrock’
‘ I Don’t Know’
‘Jazz-rock’
‘Baby All Night jazzblues – Baby Doll swing’
‘I Don’t Know 2’
Two letters by Ed about this release:
Letter 1:
After the blues period from 1966 up to and including 1968 and Surprieze, I was single again and had two LP’s on my room: John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Mick Taylor on guitar and Soft Machine, ‘Bundles,’ with Alan Holdsworth on guitar. I bought a Les Paul guitar and moved from Breda to Utrecht in 1977. There I ended up in a blues collective called Blues Excuse and played with them for two years, also on harmonica. In the period from 1978 until 1983, I managed to make a lot of recordings in a farmyard in Meerle (Belgium), just below Breda, with good musicians, own songs, and with help from Hans Meier, a good producer with good ears. These recordings on the CD with Blues Excuse were made in Arnhem and Haarlem. They are recordings in the blues and jazz (rock) genre. I hope it sounds interesting enough and I am happy that it has been released.
Kind regards,
Ed van der Meer
Letter 2:
Additional words – After Slack Gang – Blues Excuse ’78-’80 (30th of November, 2023)
Dear people,
I would like to add something – Kees van Veldhuizen, the keyboard player from Breda is not on the recordings. He contributed to development of blues and jazz-rock. Later on, in the 1980’s and 1990’s, I saw him perform with a soprano saxophone in Utrecht, together with Elton Dean, a member of Soft Machine. Kees also played with Blues Excuse. He’s a very creative and interesting person, but I don’t know where he is at the moment. I don’t have internet. In Utrecht, I formed Blues Excuse in 1978, that was a group of good musicians. On this CD, there’s multiple songs with Blues Excuse, most of them with Hans Meier as sound engineer, and also a recording from Arnhem with a jazz-drummer form Arnhem named Fred Mooy. The band was active for 2-3 years and was very productive, with a good atmosphere. In addition, when I was living in Utrecht, I recorded on the farmyard in Meerle (Belgium) with Hans Meier. We recorded both jazz-rock and blues songs, where I played harmonica or guitar on. So Toon Plasman went to become “my” keyboard-player after Kees. Roel Bisschop was on drums, Hubert Bredt on vocals and Ruud Englebert on bass. I still have two other CD’s with blues from a jazz and blues club in Utrecht. So, that’s it for today and I’m happy with these recordings. It’s about 40-20 years ago but good music is here to stay. I can’t help it that I’m getting older. There is so much to talk about, in particular about the early days. On the farmyard in Meerle, a group called “Fruit” developed. There’s a CD from Fruit, released in 2008, with Roel Roring, Hans Meier, Toon Plasman and Ruud Englebert, recorded in the 1970’s and Mary Anders, an English blues guitarist plus Roel Bisschop. I hope this CD provides enough of an overview of jazz and blues.
Thank you,
Ed van der Meer
Blues Excuse is on YouTube, live in Utrecht
U-tracks ’79 with multiple bands from Utrecht – LP live in Vredenburg (10-15 minutes)
Kind regards,
Ed
and let us hope for peace
for how long
this planet is not ideal for everyone
but this is a temporary road
a learning moment
I believe there is more, for everybody
there are several earths, on another, higher level
good thing, too.
I could also have gone into politics
but I contributed to music clubs in Breda and Utrecht
I hope this is sufficient for me
I hope and think so
Blues Excuse 1978-1980
Utrecht
Peter Spee – vocals
EusMenagé – Guitar
Ed van der Meer – guitar and harmonica
JoepLumey – bass
Fred Mooy – drums
EelcoTamminga – piano
Marianne Stel – piano
Joep, Eelco and Marianne lived in Amsterdam, just as Hans meier, sound, after Slack Gang
Blues Excuse recordings: studio Arnhem (with a different producer)
This band formed in a jazz-blues club in Utrecht, Theater Kikker
After Slack Gang – Breda
1978-1980
Ed van der Meer – guitar, harmonica, vocals
Kees van Veldhuizen – keyboard
Toon Plasman – keyboard
Hans de Vos – bass
Ruud Englebert – bass
Roel Bisschop – drums
Hans Meier – sound
Recordings: Meerle (Belgium)
Barend Kemper
Surprieze – ‘Zeer Oude Klanken En Heel Nieuwe Geluiden’ | “Very obscure Dutch free-impro psych”
Slack Gang | “The Lost Recordings From 1973”
