Gare du Nord is a Dutch- Belgian jazz band, originally consisting of Doc ( Ferdi Lancee) and Inca ( Barend Fransen). Doc played

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and Inca played

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, while both performed vocal duties. After the pair split up in 2013, the band continued to work and tour with a different line-up.

History

2001–2005

Dutch guitarist Ferdi Lancee (real name: Ferdy Dousenbach, born October 21, 1953, in Tilburg) and saxophone player Barend Fransen (born January 4, 1959, in Helmond) started working together in 2001, when they started writing lounge music in Belgium. They signed a record deal with Play It Again Sam Records in Brussels, and released the albums '' (In Search Of) Excellounge'' (2001) and '' Kind Of Cool'' (2002). Several of their songs were used in the soundtracks of the TV series '' Six Feet Under'' and the movie '' Ghost Rider'' (2007). In 2003, Gare du Nord toured the

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and

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with a newly formed band consisting of nine musicians. Their third album '' Club Gare du Nord'' (2005) was recorded in their own Cell4-Studio in the Netherlands. French Jazz trumpet player Erik Truffaz and the gospel singers of the American Imani Fellowship Choir contributed to the album. Around that date (2005), Barend Fransen left his job as president of the Dutch record store chain "Van Leest" to spend more time with the band.

2006

On January 12, 2006, during

Eurosonic Eurosonic Noorderslag is an annual four-day music showcase festival and conference held in January in Groningen, Netherlands. The first three days of the festival (Eurosonic) feature artists from all over Europe, the last day of the festival (No ...

in Groningen, the Underground Station Tour 2006 of Gare du Nord started. The jazz duo made the soundtrack for ''

Stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...

'', a book by

Heleen van Royen Heleen van Royen (born Helena Margaretha Kroon; 9 March 1965, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch novelist and columnist. Her novel ''De gelukkige huisvrouw'' ("The Happy Housewife") was best-selling Dutch novel of 2010. The candid descriptions of sexuality ...

and

Marlies Dekkers Marlies Dekkers (; born 29 November 1965 in Oosterhout) is a Dutch fashion designer known for her lingerie line ''Undressed''. Biography She studied at the Art school in Breda, from which she graduated cum laude (with distinction) in 1991 ...

2007–2008

Gare du Nord recorded the single "Ride On" with British singer

Paul Carrack Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

. This song appears on their fourth album, '' Sex 'n' Jazz'' (2007). The album is the first part of a so-called "love trilogy". In addition to Carrack, the album was supported with vocals by Dutch singer

Dorona Alberti Dorona Alberti (born 1975, Maastricht) is a singer and actress whose projects include: industrial music act KMFDM, Hobson, Fairocious, Old Shoes, Pick up the Pieces, Briskey, and most recently, the Dutch/Belgian Lounge group Gare du Nord. Histor ...

, as well as soul singer

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

in the song "You're My Medicine". The song can be heard in '' Sexual Healing'', an American biographical movie from director Lauren Goodman about the last years of Marvin Gaye's life. The song was also released as a single. On April 28, Gare du Nord received a golden record for their debut album ''(In Search Of) Excellounge''. In late 2007, Gare du Nord went on the Theatre Tour Sex 'n' Jazz. Sales of ''Sex 'n' Jazz'' earned the duo a second golden record in October 2007, handed out by fashion designer

. On October 15, a Gold Edition of ''Sex 'n' Jazz'' was released containing six newly recorded tracks.

2009

The second part of the love trilogy, entitled '' Love for Lunch'', was released in May 2009, again with a cover designed by Marlies Dekkers. "Dish of the Day", the second track of the album, became a single. Track 3 of the album is Gare du Nord's interpretation of the " Summertime" jazz standard.

2011

The band Gare du Nord separated from the project Gare du Nord and would go on to perform on stage without Ferdi or Barend, who were going to focus on the new album and a movie. On October 3, 2011, the new album '' Lilywhite Soul'' was presented in Amsterdam, again on the Blue Note label. This album contains a cover of Lou Reed's " Perfect Day".

2012

Two songs (a remake of "Pablo's Blues" and a new song "Tarantino's Tango") are submitted for the new

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

movie ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Chri ...

''. These songs are also present on a new soundtrack album, called '' Rendezvous 8:02'' released on June 4. In October 2012 the first live album is released, entitled ''Lifesexy''. The release turns out to be the very last album that Barend and Ferdi work on as a creative team

2013

Barend and Ferdi split and go separate ways; Ferdi quit the public music business and Barend set up a completely new live band together with singer Dorona Alberti and guitarist Aron Raams. By the end of 2013 Universal Music releases the 3-CD box ''Collected''. The box with a career overview of the band reaches the Top 10 in the Dutch Album charts.

2014

The new Gare du Nord band tours the Netherlands for the 35 City Live Tour. The shows feature guest appearances by classical harpist Lavinia Meijer. In January 2014 Lavinia Meijer presents a multi platinum award for the ''Sex 'n' Jazz'' album, a platinum award for ''Love For Lunch'' and a gold award for ''Lilywhite Soul'' to the band in a fully packed Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. Songwriter Barend Fransen starts writing new songs with several contemporary composers for a new 10-song songcycle to be premiered live on stage as Gare du Nord: Undressed for a clubtour kicking of October 5, 2014.

References

External links

Official band site
{{Authority control Belgian jazz ensembles