Ilse Huizinga
Encyclopedia
Ilse Huizinga is a Dutch
jazz
singer. She performs throughout Europe.
, the Netherlands
in October 1966 and grew up in Nijmegen. It was an old piano
given to her family at the age of six, which first drew Huizinga to music. Inspired by Ella Fitzgerald
, Billy Holiday and Abbey Lincoln
albums, her fascination grew further when she watched Betty Carter
sing at the North Sea Jazz Festival
. At the age of 17, she took her first singing lessons. She later studied with John de Mol Senior and Gertjan Arentsen in Amsterdam
.
She regularly took part in open mike
nights at the jazz club Casablanca, in the heart of Amsterdam
's Red Light District. However, music did not feature heavily on her career ladder until she spent a year in Australia
and finished a degree in Public Administration
at the University of Amsterdam. Huizinga subsequently studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam
with Sylvi Lane, including master classes by Dianne Reeves
and Margriet Eshuis. She has toured in Spain
, Turkey
, Switzerland
and France
, and regularly performs in the United Kingdom
. A winner of the Schiedam
Jazz Award, she has represented the Netherlands
at the international jazz festival in Vienne
, France
.
KLM selected Huizinga's debut album Out Of A Dream for its in-flight entertainment programme. On Voices Within
she recorded her own voice five times, resulting according to critics "some of the best close harmony for decades". Her third album The Sweetest Sounds was voted Album of the Week on Dutch radio and is played on specialist jazz radio stations across Europe. Her informal debut was at Ronnie Scott's, and she has also performed at Concertgebouw
and Amsterdam's Bijlmerbajes
prison
.
In 2001 Ilse Huizinga recorded an album exclusively devoted to the songs of Richard Rodgers
, entitled The Sweetest Sounds. It was met with instant acclaim by the critics and nominated for Holland's oldest and most prestigious music award, The Edison Award
.
There are several albums featuring selections of jazz standard
s on Daybreak Records that are highly regarded by critics, Voices Within
, shows a multi-vocal side to Huizinga's talent, The Sweetest Sounds is an acclaimed 2001 highlight, whilst The Intimate Sessions
- Volume 1 was recorded in 2006 specifically to meet demand in the Japan
ese market. Easy to Idolize
(2003) and Beyond Broadway
(2005) find Huizinga on form in selections of the Great American Songbook
, accompanied by a stellar lineup of European jazz musicians.
In 2011 Ilse Huizinga launched Vocal Jazz Trip, a specialist tour operator based in Amsterdam
that hosts vocal jazz
master classes
and jazz
themed citybreaks in Paris
, Berlin
, Rome
, New York City
, Prague
, London
and other major cities.
, whereby "she manages to fit entire octaves into a single syllable - great that the poignant lyrics meanwhile never suffer." (De Volkskrant
) In interviews, Huizinga has said that the death of her father and her traumatic pregnancy have deeply affected her singing. "I used to be totally focused on technique. Now I'm no longer such a perfectionist, no longer focused on pretty singing. Emotions and the deeper meaning behind the lyrics have become much more important to me."
, composer
and arranger
Erik van der Luijt
. Together they made eight albums to date and continue to perform together.
Other notable collaborations include double bass player Sven Schuster, percussionist Frits Landesbergen
and double bass player Ruud Jacobs, who is said to have been coaxed out of retirement for Huizinga's 1999 album Voices Within
. It was Jacobs who suggested dubbing Huizinga's voice five times to create a close harmony
sound on this album.
when she was 22, which made her determined to follow her dream of pursuing a singing career. She met the pianist, composer and arranger Erik van der Luijt
when her regular pianist fell ill and he stepped in at the last moment before a performance in Amsterdam
. They married in Leiden in 1998. Their daughter Ellen was born ten weeks prematurely on April 1, 2000 after Huizinga suffered from preeclampsia.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer. She performs throughout Europe.
History
Ilse Huizinga was born in BeverwijkBeverwijk
Beverwijk is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in October 1966 and grew up in Nijmegen. It was an old piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
given to her family at the age of six, which first drew Huizinga to music. Inspired by Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Billy Holiday and Abbey Lincoln
Abbey Lincoln
Anna Marie Wooldridge , better known by her stage name Abbey Lincoln, was a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. Lincoln was unusual in that she wrote and performed her own compositions, expanding the expectations of jazz audiences.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was one of many...
albums, her fascination grew further when she watched Betty Carter
Betty Carter
Betty Carter was an American jazz singer renowned for her improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style...
sing at the North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz 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...
. At the age of 17, she took her first singing lessons. She later studied with John de Mol Senior and Gertjan Arentsen in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
She regularly took part in open mike
Open mike
An open mike or open mic is a live show where audience members may perform at the microphone. Usually, the performers sign up in advance for a time slot with the host or master of ceremonies. These events can be focused on poetry and the spoken word, music, comedy, and the open format of open...
nights at the jazz club Casablanca, in the heart of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
's Red Light District. However, music did not feature heavily on her career ladder until she spent a year in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and finished a degree in Public Administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
at the University of Amsterdam. Huizinga subsequently studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam
Conservatorium van Amsterdam
The Conservatorium van Amsterdam is a Dutch academy of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, the city's vocational university of arts...
with Sylvi Lane, including master classes by Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves is an American jazz singer. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.-Early life:Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a...
and Margriet Eshuis. She has toured in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and regularly performs in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. A winner of the Schiedam
Schiedam
Schiedam is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is part of the Rotterdam metropolitan area. The city is located west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen and south of Delft...
Jazz Award, she has represented the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
at the international jazz festival in Vienne
Vienne
Vienne is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.- Viennese history :Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou,...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
KLM selected Huizinga's debut album Out Of A Dream for its in-flight entertainment programme. On Voices Within
Voices Within
-Track listing:# "Foolin' Myself" – 3:21# "Some Other Time" – 2:10# "I Should Care" – 6:10...
she recorded her own voice five times, resulting according to critics "some of the best close harmony for decades". Her third album The Sweetest Sounds was voted Album of the Week on Dutch radio and is played on specialist jazz radio stations across Europe. Her informal debut was at Ronnie Scott's, and she has also performed at Concertgebouw
Concertgebouw
The Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building"...
and Amsterdam's Bijlmerbajes
Bijlmerbajes
The Bijlmerbajes is a prison complex in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, near the Amsterdam Amstel railway station. The official name is Penitentiaire Inrichting Over-Amstel, although it is also known as Penitentiaire Inrichting De Stadspoort or Penitentiaire Inrichtingen Amsterdam...
prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
.
In 2001 Ilse Huizinga recorded an album exclusively devoted to the songs of Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, entitled The Sweetest Sounds. It was met with instant acclaim by the critics and nominated for Holland's oldest and most prestigious music award, The Edison Award
The Edison Award
The Edison music award is an annual Dutch music prize, awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is one of the oldest music awards in the world, having been presented since 1960.-Origins:...
.
There are several albums featuring selections of jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
s on Daybreak Records that are highly regarded by critics, Voices Within
Voices Within
-Track listing:# "Foolin' Myself" – 3:21# "Some Other Time" – 2:10# "I Should Care" – 6:10...
, shows a multi-vocal side to Huizinga's talent, The Sweetest Sounds is an acclaimed 2001 highlight, whilst The Intimate Sessions
The Intimate Sessions
The Intimate Sessions - Volume 1 is a 2006 album by Ilse Huizinga.-Track listing:# "Angel Eyes" – 2:45# "They Can't Take That Away from Me" – 3:42...
- Volume 1 was recorded in 2006 specifically to meet demand in the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese market. Easy to Idolize
Easy To Idolize
-Track listing:# "That's All" – 3:08# "The Sound of Music" – 2:08# "I Only Have Eyes for Eyes" – 3:00# "Willow Weep for Me" – 5:04...
(2003) and Beyond Broadway
Beyond Broadway
Beyond Broadway is a 2005 album by Ilse Huizinga.-Track listing:# "I Loves You Porgy" – 3:59# "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" – 3:31...
(2005) find Huizinga on form in selections of the Great American Songbook
Great American Songbook
The Great American Songbook is a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs of enduring popularity...
, accompanied by a stellar lineup of European jazz musicians.
In 2011 Ilse Huizinga launched Vocal Jazz Trip, a specialist tour operator based in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
that hosts vocal jazz
Vocal jazz
Jazz singing can be defined by the instrumental approach to the voice, where the singer can match the instruments in their stylistic approach to the lyrics, improvised or otherwise, or through scat singing; that is, the use of nonsensical meaningless non-morphemic syllables to imitate the sound of...
master classes
Master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
themed citybreaks in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and other major cities.
Voice
Her voice is described as "warm and sexy", ""clear and pitch-perfect"", "a voice of which other singers only dream; full, clear and sensitive." (Nouveau). Her classical training shines through in genuine coloraturaColoratura
Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
, whereby "she manages to fit entire octaves into a single syllable - great that the poignant lyrics meanwhile never suffer." (De Volkskrant
De Volkskrant
de Volkskrant is a national daily Dutch morning newspaper, the leading centre-left broadsheet, although now in tabloid size.-History:...
) In interviews, Huizinga has said that the death of her father and her traumatic pregnancy have deeply affected her singing. "I used to be totally focused on technique. Now I'm no longer such a perfectionist, no longer focused on pretty singing. Emotions and the deeper meaning behind the lyrics have become much more important to me."
Collaborations with other jazz artists
Huizinga's most celebrated collaboration is with her husband, the pianistPianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
Erik van der Luijt
Erik van der Luijt
Erik van der Luijt is a Dutch jazz pianist / keyboard player, arranger, composer, producer and band leader.-History:Erik van der Luijt started playing the piano at the age of four...
. Together they made eight albums to date and continue to perform together.
Other notable collaborations include double bass player Sven Schuster, percussionist Frits Landesbergen
Frits Landesbergen
Frits Landesbergen is a Dutch jazz drummer and vibraphonist.Landesbergen has released six albums under his own name. All are out of print. Alone Together and Melange are his best sold albums....
and double bass player Ruud Jacobs, who is said to have been coaxed out of retirement for Huizinga's 1999 album Voices Within
Voices Within
-Track listing:# "Foolin' Myself" – 3:21# "Some Other Time" – 2:10# "I Should Care" – 6:10...
. It was Jacobs who suggested dubbing Huizinga's voice five times to create a close harmony
Close harmony
Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open harmony or voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note , while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array expanding the harmonic range past the octave...
sound on this album.
Personal life
Ilse Huizinga's father died from cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
when she was 22, which made her determined to follow her dream of pursuing a singing career. She met the pianist, composer and arranger Erik van der Luijt
Erik van der Luijt
Erik van der Luijt is a Dutch jazz pianist / keyboard player, arranger, composer, producer and band leader.-History:Erik van der Luijt started playing the piano at the age of four...
when her regular pianist fell ill and he stepped in at the last moment before a performance in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. They married in Leiden in 1998. Their daughter Ellen was born ten weeks prematurely on April 1, 2000 after Huizinga suffered from preeclampsia.
Discography
- 1997 - Out Of A Dream (Own production)
- 1999 - Voices WithinVoices Within-Track listing:# "Foolin' Myself" – 3:21# "Some Other Time" – 2:10# "I Should Care" – 6:10...
(Own production) - 1999 - Erik van der Luijt - En Blanc Et Noir 2 (Challenge / Daybreak)
- 2001 - The Sweetest Sounds - Ilse Huizinga Sings the Music of Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
(Challenge / Daybreak) - 2003 - Easy to IdolizeEasy To Idolize-Track listing:# "That's All" – 3:08# "The Sound of Music" – 2:08# "I Only Have Eyes for Eyes" – 3:00# "Willow Weep for Me" – 5:04...
(Challenge / Daybreak) - 2005 - Beyond BroadwayBeyond BroadwayBeyond Broadway is a 2005 album by Ilse Huizinga.-Track listing:# "I Loves You Porgy" – 3:59# "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" – 3:31...
(Maxanter Records) - 2006 - The Intimate SessionsThe Intimate SessionsThe Intimate Sessions - Volume 1 is a 2006 album by Ilse Huizinga.-Track listing:# "Angel Eyes" – 2:45# "They Can't Take That Away from Me" – 3:42...
- Volume 1 (Own production)
Samples
- Download sample You Stepped Out Of A Dream (Herbert Brown/Kahn), from the 1997 album Out Of A Dream
- Almost Like Being In Love (Lerner/Loewe), from the 1999 album Voices WithinVoices Within-Track listing:# "Foolin' Myself" – 3:21# "Some Other Time" – 2:10# "I Should Care" – 6:10...
- Download sample of the 2005 album "Beyond BroadwayBeyond BroadwayBeyond Broadway is a 2005 album by Ilse Huizinga.-Track listing:# "I Loves You Porgy" – 3:59# "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" – 3:31...
"
Quotations
- "Ilse Huizinga... a superb vocal treat." Emyr Williams, BBC RadioBBC RadioBBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
- "Ilse Huizinga is likely to take Europe by storm, maybe even by hurricane" - Florian Stenschke, Jazz Radio Berlin
- "Ilse really dares to let herself go, approaching everything with remarkable ease and above all with a consistently wonderful jazzy sound." - Kees Polling, TrouwTrouwTrouw is a Dutch daily newspaper. "Trouw" is a Dutch word meaning "fidelity", "loyalty", or "allegiance", and is cognate with the English adjective "true"...
- "Huizinga has a powerful, mature - and above all also warm and beautiful - voice which is superbly versatile. She bends and stretches it to her liking. A tender ballad or an upbeat song; either she shows to their full advantage. Fearlessly, she encounters her vocal boundaries. Ilse combines guts with innovation, dances right on key across half interval runs and presents the lyrics with such integrity, such conviction that she has already captured the listener's ear. In this self assurance great singers distinguish themselves from the endless numbers of so-called great talents" - Jan Rensen, De Gooi- en Eemlander
- "Very promising. Her wordless introduction to the song The Old Country sounds so magnificent, it's like an angel descending from heaven. Ilse's voice is perfect. Her delivery is exceptional in the way she treats dots and comma's in an unexpected manner..." - Ruud Kuyper, Algemeen DagbladAlgemeen DagbladThe Algemeen Dagblad is a Dutch newspaper. Founded in Rotterdam in 1946, it currently has a daily circulation of 315,000. The newspaper is owned by AD NieuwsMedia, a joint venture between Wegener and PCM Uitgevers....
- "With this second production the singer and the pianist/arranger manage, if anything, to amaze even more. The warm, sexy voice and the once again outstanding selection of tried and tested standards can be enjoyed in yet another new approach. Ilse has ingeniously dubbed her own voice and this has resulted in sublime multi-vocal jazz. The intro for five voices of Almost Like Being In Love is comparable to the best close harmony since the legendary Singers UnlimitedThe Singers UnlimitedThe Singers Unlimited were a four part jazz vocal group formed in 1971 by Gene Puerling. Members of the group included Len Dresslar , Bonnie Herman, Don Shelton and Puerling himself....
, who gained a reputation in the Seventies using the very same technique." - Imme Schade van Westrum, AVRO Radio - "A singer with a wonderful voice, a wonderful band and wonderful arrangements. Ilse is anything but a clone, possessing an instantly recognisable sound. She sings one hell of a lot fuller and more convincingly than many an American diva launched with clever marketing hype." - Jeroen de Valk, Het ParoolHet ParoolHet Parool is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was founded as a resistance paper during World War II by Frans Van Heuven Goedhart and Jaap Nunes Vaz...
- "Ilse Huizinga has a very pleasant presentation and a beautiful voice with an outstanding technique and diction. Moreover, she dares to take chances. Upbeat or slow songs, songs that seem easy or songs that require some virtuosity; she handles all with remarkable ease" - TrouwTrouwTrouw is a Dutch daily newspaper. "Trouw" is a Dutch word meaning "fidelity", "loyalty", or "allegiance", and is cognate with the English adjective "true"...
- "All the hallmarks of an international diva in the making" - Armand Serpenti, TrouwTrouwTrouw is a Dutch daily newspaper. "Trouw" is a Dutch word meaning "fidelity", "loyalty", or "allegiance", and is cognate with the English adjective "true"...
- "A nightingale with a golden voice. She sings sensual jazz with a modern tinge" - CosmopolitanCosmopolitan (magazine)Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
- "A voice of which other singers only dream; full, clear and sensitive. With this golden voice she sings the wonderful arrangements of Erik van der Luijt" - Nouveau
- "A singer with a marvellous, beautiful voice and an interpretation all her own" - Marie ClaireMarie ClaireMarie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
- "Wonderful repertoire, great arrangements, excellent musicians and a singer with a beautiful, strong voice" - Greetje Kauffeld
- "Ilse Huizinga is an astonishing jazz talent" - Willem Duys, AVRO Radio
- "One of the strongest of the new generation of Dutch jazz singers. In the title song we get genuine coloratura, in This Can't Be Love she manages to fit entire octaves into a single syllable - great that the poignant lyrics meanwhile never suffer." - De VolkskrantDe Volkskrantde Volkskrant is a national daily Dutch morning newspaper, the leading centre-left broadsheet, although now in tabloid size.-History:...
- "Clear and pitch-perfect voice, an original colouring of Rodgers' songs" - De Gooi- en Eemlander
- "Ilse adds a whole new magic to the songs of Rodgers." - Elegance
- "Delicious late-night listening" - Expatplus
- "Beautiful and flexible voice, wonderful arrangements" - Tubantia
Quotes
- "On his way out my singing teacher remarked, "By the way, why don't you become a professional singer?" and all I could think was: "Kidding, right?"
- "We did some weird gigs, surrounded by screaming pin-ball machines, on working dairy farms and at jazz festivals where hardrock cafés had decided to put on some jazz for one night only. When we played at Amsterdam's high security prison, staff removed knives, forks and even pencils before the show. Our bass player was too terrified to look up all night."
- "I was able to tell Abbey Lincoln in person how much her music moves me. That it's as if we're soulmates. On her departure I asked if I could kiss her and she said "Gimme a hug!" She was like a saint to me and it still gives me goosebumps."
- "The record companies were not exactly waiting for me. But an album is a business card for a wide audience. So when the labels gave no response, I produced my first album myself. We did everything. I cycled around record stores in the middle of winter. Boy, did I learn a lot from that about what I want and don't want."
- "Legislation has killed off live music in pubs and clubs in Amsterdam. There is no sandbox, no playground for jazz anymore."