gregor schaefer

Biography

Gregor Schaefer is a multi-instrumentalist who plays mainly stringed instruments. He performs acoustic music in klezmer, Eastern European, Oriental and Latin American styles and jazz.

He studied double bass at the jazz department of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (Netherlands). In addition to swing and bebop he started playing folklore and world music with the band Csokolom, touring internationally. As a double bass player he has a big sound, strong rhythm and smooth lyricism. That makes him a remarkable performer of jazz and world music.

Having discovered the ud, the Turkish/Arab fretless lute, he now uses it for concerts and recordings. He also performs and records on the bassetl/bassetto (small bowed bass tuned in fifths), cello (both regular and three stringed folk cello), waldzither (mandola) and zither.

Currently, Gregor is a member of several bands in the Dutch world music scene, most notably the klezmer group Shtetl Band Amsterdam. He is also a freelancer for jazz, theater & world music projects. He has performed in Europe, Australia and the USA.

His playing can be heard on some twenty-five CDs.
For examples of his playing, visit the Audio/Video page.

Groups

• Shtetl Band Amsterdam Village Klezmer with 2 violins, accordion, bowed bass and percussion. Playing the older, European version of klezmer music with a two violin line-up, this group fits in the emancipation of the klezmer violinists that started in the mid-1990's. The bassetl (small bass or large cello) and the poyk (one drum, one cymbal) add to the village feeling of this very pure klezmer style.
• Misterios Songs close to and further from the Mediterranean Sea: Sephardic-Jewish songs and songs from Armenia, Portugal, Azerbejan, Iran.
• Amsterdam Jazz project: A new, exciting group with tenor saxophone player Lior Kuperberg, guitarist Christiaan Brester and drummer Roberto Haliffi. This is hard swinging jazz! More info will be provided later.
• Guest appearances with Musicians Without Borders (international music projects), Lollo Meier Quartet (Gypsy jazz, Django Reinhardt style) and Nikitov (Yiddish songs).
• From 2001-2008 he played double bass and ud in Mazzeltov. This Dutch group played and sang Yiddish and Sephardic songs, klezmer instrumentals, original compositions, Yiddish translations of well-known songs, crossover experiments. The group performed festival concerts, theater shows and wedding dance music.
• From 2003-2005 he was the first bassist of Di Fidl Kapelye. This string group explored the sound and music of old klezmer groups from Eastern Europe. Gregors gut string sound on the bass and his improvisations and melodies on the ud added much to the distinctive sound of the first years of that band.
• From 1993-2004 he played in Csókolom, the German/Dutch group that played world music based on traditional Hungarian and Rumanian folk music and songs, beautifully arranged by Anti von Klewitz. The band toured international and recorded two CDs for the legendary Arhoolie label.
• From 1989-2002 he played double bass in dozens of jazz groups: bebop, swing, American Songbook, Mingus' music, big bands, gipsy swing / jazz manouche. He still regularly sits in with jazz groups in the Netherlands.

Some highlights

• In 2011 Shtetl Band Amsterdam started a series of concerts of Yiddish songs and klezmer music with Shura Lipovsky.
• The CD 'The Klezmer Village' by Shtetl Band Amsterdam, for which Gregor is also the artistic director, was called "a major event in the klezmer world" by Dr. Walter 'Zev' Feldman, pioneering performer and outstanding academic of klezmer music since the mid-1970's.
• In 2010 Shtetl Band Amsterdam started a series of klezmer concerts with master clarinet player Christian Dawid.
• In 2010 Gregor played solo ud, in a concert at the Nederlands Gregoriaans Festival, together with the Gregorian Choir Schola Cantorum Amsterdam.
• In the fall of 2009 Gregor played live music for silent movies, with the ensemble The Sprockets led by accomplished composer and pianist Maud Nelissen. He also played concerts of newly composed music with the jazz quartet of trombone player Akki Haak.
• In 2009 Shtetl Band Amsterdam performed a concert together in with the Moroccan chaabi group Ismailia, in the Amsterdam Jewish Museum (Joods Historisch Museum).
• The CD 'The Bride's Waltz - New & Old Music for the Klezmer Violin' by Shtetl Band Amsterdam, for which Gregor is the artistic director, was released in 2008. It was extremely well received by the international klezmer music scene.
• In 2008 he played live in the popular Dutch TV program "De Wereld Draait Door" with Mazzeltov & Ronlinha Kross.
• In 2006 he performed with the group Mazzeltov & Ronlinha Kross at the Grote Zaal of The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. It was a wonderful evening, superb playing, good atmosphere, excellent sound, for a full house. The concert was recorded and broadcast by the Dutch Concertzender.
• In 2005 the CD 'Mishpoge' by Mazzeltov was nominated for the Edison Award (that's the Dutch version of the Grammy Awards). During the summer he played frequent guest appearances with Nikitov (Yiddish songs).
• In 2004 he performed in Berlin, Weimar and New York, plus at many main stages in The Netherlands: The Concertgebouw, Panama (all in Amsterdam), RASA (Utrecht).
  Recorded CD with Stefka: Latin American songs with an oriental touch plus poems by Pablo Neruda and Frederico Garcia Lorca with original music.
• In 2002 and 2003, he performed at important stages in The Netherlands: The Concertgebouw, Carré, De Melkweg, Paradiso, Tuschinski (all in Amsterdam), Frits Philips Zaal (Eindhoven), Terra Festival (Alkmaar), Tivoli (Utrecht), Festival Mundial (Tilburg).
• In 1999 and 2001 he toured Australia, playing at major festivals, such as Womad in Adelaide and Port Fairy, and at many jazz and world music venues.
• In the summer of 2000 he participated in the Musicians Without Borders project, playing goodwill concerts in Macedonia and Bosnia and meeting local musicians. A big event that they organized in cooperation with local peace group CIVIL was the first multi-ethnic concert ever being held in Skopje, Macedonia's capital.
• With the group Csókolom, he recorded two CD's with mainly Hungarian music for the Arhoolie label, famous for its releases of American roots music. The first CD was recorded in 1998 in the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. During one single 3 hour session 14 tunes were recorded directly to stereo tape.
• In 1995 he performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival with the Big Band of the Royal Conservatory from Den Haag. The music being played was originally composed and arranged in the 1930's and 1940's by alto saxophonist, trumpeter, arranger and bandleader Benny Carter (1907-2003). It turned out that Benny Carter was in the audience and immediately after the concert he came especially to Gregor to congratulate him with his sound and playing.

Composing and arranging

• Klezmer and Yiddish Song: Shtetl Band Amsterdam, Di Fidl Kapelye, Mazzeltov (NL), Vasage Trio.
• World Music: Csókolom, Soluna.
• Jazz: Paul Stark Trio, Simon Rigter Quartet, Sanna van Vliet Quartet, Jacco Griekspoor Quartet, Bernard Berkhout's New Thundering Swingmates.
• Gipsy Jazz / Jazz Manouche / Hot Club Swing: Tolga Emilio During, Centre Ville.

Played with

• Klezmer and Yiddish Song: Shura Lipovsky, Christian Dawid, Marcel Salomon, Sanne Möricke, Bert Vos, Roberto Haliffi, Georg Brinkmann, Vanessa Vromans, Michel Marang, Niki Jacobs, Lucette van den Berg, Rolinha Kross.
• World Music: Kálmán Balogh (cimbalom), Slobodan Trkulja (balkanjazz wind instruments), Jamil Al Asadi (Arab qanun), Latif Saad Al Obaidi (Arab percussion and ud), Monique Lansdorp (balkan violin), Merima Kljuco (accordion), Roelof Rosendal (balkan percussion), Bart Lelivelt (accordion), Anti von Klewitz (violin), Rene Gosse (balkan percussion).
• Jazz: Fay (Fee) Claassen, John Ruocco, Kristina Fuchs, Jarmo Hoogendijk, Tom Beek, Sanna van Vliet, Simon Rigter, Erik Kooger, Marco Kegel, Tilmar Junius, Stefan Kruger, Juraj Stanik, Peter Beets, Wim Kegel, Paul Stark, Michael Erian.
• Gipsy Jazz / Jazz Manouche / Hot Club Swing: Lollo Meier, Robin Nolan, Tim Kliphuis, Reinier Voet & Jan Brouwer & Pigalle44, John Friedrichs, John Ligthart, Jan Limberger, Hadi Mouallem, Tolga Emilio During, Rino van Hooijdonk.

Studied with

• Jazz bass: Ernst Glerum, Jacques Schols, Hein van de Geyn, Frans van der Hoeven.
• Classical bass: Roelof Meijer, Ernst Glerum.
• Ud: Fouad Bennis (Morocco), Ali Achkouder (Syria), Roelof Rosendal (NL).
• Mandola/waldzither: Paul van Vlodrop.