Drake Jazz Ensemble One In Europe

-1998-

Drake Jazz Ensemble I under the direction of Andy Classe n took their first ever tour of Europe in July of 1998. The trip was extremely successful, with consistently high quality performances in Holland, Germany and Switzerland. The band got back together for three days of intense rehearsal in early July. The day before departing, the band played a send off concert outside of Drake's Fine Art Center as part of Des Moines' Jazz in July series. The weather was beautiful and the crowd of over 500 was very receptive.

The first stop was in Holland at the North Sea Jazz Festival. This three day festival had legendary artists as Herbie Hancock, George Benson, the Mingus Big Band, and the Maria Schneider Big Band.

After a cruise down the Rhine river, viewing some magnificent medieval castles, the band performed at the Jazz Haus in Freiburg, Germany. This was a joint concert with the big band from the Jazz/Rock school in Freiburg, which has over 500 musicians enrolled. The band did extremely well in the informal setting of this German jazz club.

The next stop was in Brienz, Switzerland for a performance at their mini-Montreux Jazz Festival. Due to rain, we performed inside a small restaurant for a small, but enthusiastic audience. The owner treated the band very well, feeding us dinner beforehand, and dessert afterwards.

The culmination of the trip was three days at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The setting is idyllic, right on lake Geneva with the Swiss Alps as a backdrop. The band played three times at the Festival, each one surpassing the previous in quality. By the last performance at the Stravinsky Terrace, the band was playing better than it has ever played, with a strong, tight ensemble sound, driving rhythm section and inspired improvisations.

Along with all of the great music the band got to hear and all of their performance, there were many other great memories from the trip, to numerous to recount. It definitely brought the band together and brought them to new heights and musicians. This was truly and experience of a lifetime.