At the age of ten, Ellister van der Molen was accepted to the Royal Conservatory in The Hague on the condition that she would quit playing jazz. The classical repertoire that she learned to embrace in those early years are still a source of inspiration and the musicians she worked with then are still within her circles.

The idea of the Veluwesuite was born during a festival at the Veluwezoom. During a whole week the cream of crop of dutch classical music lived together in the middle of the woods while having an impressive rehearsal / concert schedule. The characters of clarinet, bassoon and cello intrigued her: lyrical yet with fire, with melodical qualities but capable of laying down a nice bass groove.

To the classical musicians of this project this mixture of chamber music and jazz is a nice change from their daily activities in the major orchestras. Rising star jazz guitarist Gijs Idema not only is a master in tastefully complementing the melodies with his sounds, his playing forms a magical world in itself.

Line-up

Ellister van der Molen – flugelhorn en trompet
Christof May – klarinet
Remko Edelaar – fagot
Tom van Lent – cello
Karel Bredenhorst – cello
Gijs Idema – gitaar

Some video links:

Unfortunately, my attempts to make footage of the Veluwesuite itself were repeatedly unsuccessful. The videos underneath are some of the shorter pieces that we usually play before the break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJUQ1C5T2Lg Sola (Theater Ludens, Voorburg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwws3FIuOhQ Bald Rapunsel (Theater Ludens, Voorburg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqynwmxycII Lotus Blossom (Theater Ludens, Voorburg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stacWDrbB2Q Love Compass (Theater Ludens, Voorburg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG5Xo0rF_OA (Theater Ludens, Voorburg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTNJ6L5273g Who Gave You My Gun (Theater Ludens, Voorburg)
https://youtu.be/1_Z5JZdXwrU Wolk (Ujazz, Utrecht)
https://youtu.be/1_Z5JZdXwrU Lotus Blossom (Ujazz, Utrech)