Tony Overwater (

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, 24 March 1965) is a Dutch jazz bassist (

acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar a ...

and

violone The term violone (; literally "large viol" in Italian, " -one" being the augmentative suffix) can refer to several distinct large, bowed musical instruments which belong to either the viol or violin family. The violone is sometimes a fretted i ...

) and composer of jazz and improvisational music. In 2002 he received the

Boy Edgar Award A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

, the most important jazz award in The Netherlands. Presently, Overwater is mainly active in a crossover of jazz,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

Career

Jazz

Overwater studied at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherl ...

under

John Clayton John Clayton may refer to: Arts and entertainment Writing *John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer *John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer *John Clayton (sportswriter) ( ...

and had lessons from

Dave Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...

and others. In 1989 he started his first band, Scapes, and received an award from the ''Stichting Jazz in Nederland'' for being the most promising musician. In that year he toured with Sunny and David Murray, and in the following years he recorded numerous albums, including ''A Sanctuary Within'' (1992). He also became a member of

Yuri Honing Yuri Honing (born 6 July 1965) is a Dutch jazz saxophonist. Career In 2001, Honing met Paul Bley and recorded the album ''Seven'' with Bley on piano, Gary Peacock on bass and Paul Motian on drums. This album garnered Honing the Dutch Edison Award ...

’s trio, with which he toured for over 25 years. The trio recorded several albums, the most recent one in 2008. He also has been active in the trio DelFerro/Overwater/Paeffgen, which also produced some albums. Under his own name he worked with a variety of musicians in various ensembles. One such ensemble, Jungle Boldie, included Maarten Ornstein and Wim Kegel, with whom he recorded a number of albums. The album ''Op'' (2001), which also featured

Ack van Rooyen Ack van Rooyen (1 January 1930, The Hague – 18 November 2021) was a Dutch jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist. He was the brother of Jerry van Rooyen. Van Rooyen began playing with a military band as a teenager, touring bases in Indonesia. He the ...

and

Ernst Reijseger Ernst Reijseger (born 13 November 1954) is a Dutch cellist and composer. He specializes in avant-garde jazz, free jazz, improvised music, and contemporary classical music and often gives solo concerts. He has worked with Louis Sclavis, Derek ...

, was a tribute to bassist

Oscar Pettiford Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom. Biography Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United ...

and resulted in an

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

. Ornstein and Overwater collaborated on a number of recordings and worked together repeatedly, such as in the band ''V'', with Rima Khcheich, Kikker and many others. In 2005 he worked together for the first time with the Calefax Reed Quintet in a project based on two suites by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

. His trio, together with Calefax, toured in the Middle East, India and other countries. They recorded a CD which was nominated for an Edison Award. Currently, Overwater works regularly with Rembrandt Frerichs and Vinsent Planjer in various combos, including the Rembrandt Frerichs Trio, the Contemporary Fortepiano and a band with

Kayhan Kalhor Kayhan Kalhor ( fa, کیهان کلهر, ku, کەیھان کەڵھوڕ, translit=Keyhan Kelhur, born 24 November 1964) is an Iranian-Kurdish kamancheh and setar player and vocalist composer and master of classical Iranian traditional music. Ea ...

Arab Music

Overwater played with many Arab musicians such as the Moroccan

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

player Said Chraibi, the Syrian clarinettist

Kinan Azmeh Kinan Azmeh ( ar, كنان العظمة, Kinān Azme, born June 10, 1976, in Damascus), is a Syrian clarinet player and composer of contemporary music. Performing with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavari ...

and Algerian violinist Kheiredinne M’Kachiche. In 1995 Overwater went on a tour with the Yuri Honing Trio through the Middle East (primarily Lebanon and Syria) where he became interested in Arab music. During this tour he met the Lebanese vocalist Rima Khcheich and this resulted in a long-term collaboration. He later intensified his collaboration with Khcheich. They performed regularly and released several CDs in the

muwashshah ''Muwashshah'' ( ar, موشح ' literally means "girdled" in Classical Arabic; plural ' or ' ) is the name for both an Arabic poetic form and a secular musical genre. The poetic form consists of a multi-lined strophic verse poem written ...

style, in which the acoustic bass replaces the oud and for which he developed a technique to play Arab microtonalities on the acoustic bass. Together with pianist Rembrandt Frerichs and percussionist/drummer Vinsent Planjer, Overwater formed in 2009 the Rembrandt Frerichs Trio which performs with guest musicians from the Middle East. In 2013 Overwater started ''Salon Joussour'', a series of lectures, workshops and concerts in The Netherlands which aims to create a bridge between musicians from the Middle East and Europe.

Music for children

In 2000 Overwater wrote music to accompany children’s stories about a frog by

Max Velthuijs Max Velthuijs (1923–2005) was a Dutch painter, illustrator and writer, one of the most famous children's illustrators in the Netherlands. In 2004 he received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his "lasting contribution to children's litera ...

. A performance (in which he played live while Velthuijs read aloud and sketched) was broadcast on Dutch national television. In 2002 he went on tour with Velthuijs and performed at the

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...

. Their collaboration resulted in two albums with frog stories, of which ''Kikker Swingt'' received a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

. In the following years Overwater also got involved in music education for children with organisations such as ''Oorkaan'' and the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklĳk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the "R ...

. There he developed shows together with Lotte van Dijck such as ''Papa Pia'', ''Dwaallichtje'', and ''Glimp'' (awarded with the YAMA Young Audiences Music Awards 2015.)

Applied Music

Overwater has composed and performed music for silent films. In 1992 he wrote music for

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

and in 1994 his quartet played live accompaniments to films by

Joris Ivens Georg Henri Anton "Joris" Ivens (18 November 1898 – 28 June 1989) was a Dutch documentary filmmaker. Among the notable films he directed or co-directed are '' A Tale of the Wind'', '' The Spanish Earth'', ''Rain'', ''...A Valparaiso'', ''M ...

and also several French films, such as by

Germaine Dulac Germaine Dulac (; born Charlotte Elisabeth Germaine Saisset-Schneider; 17 November 1882 – 20 July 1942)Flitterman-Lewis 1996 was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early child ...

. In 1994 he created the 'auditory' movie ''Motion Music''. In the following years he wrote arrangements for several documentaries by Brigit Hillenius. He also got involved with music written specifically for dance such as his compositions when he composed music for choreographer Anouk van Dijk with whom he performed live, as well as with the Scapino Ballet. In recent years Overwater created music for several documentaries. Examples include ''Varia Americana'', ''Om de Oude Wereldzee'' and ''Justice For Sergei'', which won the

Cinema for Peace The Cinema for Peace Foundation is a registered, non-profit organization based in Berlin, Germany. It supports film-based projects dealing with global humanitarian and environmental issues, and coordinates the Cinema for Peace awards. History T ...

Award for Justice 2012 in Berlin.

Important bands

* Tony Overwater Ensemble * Rembrandt Frerichs Trio * Jungle Boldie * Rima Khcheich * Hermine Deurloo Quartet * Glimp

Other collaborations

* Joshua Samson *

Sylvie Courvoisier Sylvie Courvoisier (born 30 November 1968) is a composer, pianist and improviser. Career Courvoisier, originally from Lausanne, Switzerland, has lived in Brooklyn, New York for years. She has led several groups over the years, recorded 10 albu ...

* A group including

Misha Mengelberg Misha Mengelberg (5 June 1935 – 3 March 2017) was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 459. Oxford University Press. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz ...

and

Pierre Favre Peter Faber (french: Pierre Lefevre or Favre, la, Petrus Faver) (13 April 1506 – 1 August 1546) was a Jesuit priest and theologian, who was also a co-founder of the Society of Jesus, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Pope Fra ...

* The Treya Quartet * Vandoorn * Dufay * Heleen van den Hombergh * Nathalie Laurier * Marc van Roon * Lotte van Dijck * Karin Hammar *

Discography

As a leader

* ''Changes in Time'' (Scapes), Timeless, 1989 * ''Motion Music'',

JIM Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

, 1994 * ''Up Close'', Turtle, 1999 * ''Op'', Turtle, 2001 * ''Over the Rainbow'', First Impression Music, 2003 * ''Kikker Swingt'' (Tony Overwater quintet with Max Velthuijs), JIM, 2003 * ''Ellington Suites'', (Tony Overwater Trio with Calefax), JIM, 2005 * ''Kikker Heeft De Blues'', JIM, 2007 * ''Jungleboldie'' (Tony Overwater Trio), Turtle, 2010 * ''Om De Oude Wereldzee'' (Tony Overwater Ensemble), JIM, 2015

As a sideman

* ''Sanctuary Within'' (David Murray) * ''Falak'' (Rima Khcheich), JIM, 2008 * ''Hawa'' (Rima Khcheich), JIM, 2013 * ''WashWishni'' (Rima Khcheich), JIM, 2016 * ''Long Story Short'' (Rembrandt Frerichs Trio) * ''Star Tracks'' (Yuri Honing Trio) * ''Alive'' (Yuri Honing Trio) * ''Sequel'' (Yuri Honing Trio) * ''Everyday Magic'' (Karin Hammar) * ''Levantasy'' (Kepera Trio) * ''Glass Fish'' (Hermine Deurloo)

Awards and honors

* 1989 Podium Prize * 2001 Edison award * 2002 Boy Edgar Award * 2002 Bird Award (nomination) * 2005 Bird Award (nomination) * 2008 Gold record

References

External links

Official website

YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overwater, Tony 1965 births Living people Dutch jazz composers Musicians from Rotterdam