New Cool Collective Big Band - Pachinko (2010)

New Cool Collective have been happily grooving on 15 years of fame thanks to their unique mix of jazz, dance, latin, salsa, afrobeat and boogaloo. They are always funky, energetic and danceable -- no matter if they perform as a 19-piece Big Band or as a more compact 8-piece.

It all began in 1994 when saxophonist Benjamin Herman began experimenting with DJ Graham B in the Amsterdam nightclub Soul Kitchen. As Graham B spinned, Herman played live -- a combination that was then unique. Eventually this evolved into the 8-piece New Cool Collective that is now equally at home playing clubs as it is festivals. And more recently, TV shows have been clamouring to make them their house band. But in the end they will always choose their own path. And wherever they stop along the way, there will definitely be a party.

As pioneers in the Dutch jazz scene, these musicians were long seen as deeply strange birds. Jazz purists regarded their “Soul Jazz Latin Flavours Nineties Vibe” as too hard and fast. But once younger clubbers found their way to this throbbing dance orchestra then playing at Café Meander, the future arrived and both jazz lovers and jazz haters couldn’t stay away.

NCC has won an Edison Award, a Heineken Crossover Music Award and the Golden Nutcracker. They have toured the great expanses of Benelux, Great Britain, Germany, Africa, Canada, Russia and Japan. They not only play hipster jazz clubs but also such huge pop and rock festivals as Roskilde (Denmark), Sziget (Hungary), Pinkpop (Netherlands), Lowlands (Netherlands), Camden Mix Festival (UK) and the Aberdeen Alternative Festival (UK).

On the 2nd op April 2010, New Cool Collective released a new Big Band album, Pachinko. New Cool Collective made a highly influential trip to Japan in summer 2009. They sucked up impressions from everywhere: from the commercial and video jingles coming from their hotel room’s TV, to the wacky jackpot soundscapes emitting from the gaming halls of Tokyo’s entertainment district Roppongi. Now add to this mix some “punkjazz”, a more dominant rock sound, a 1980s feeling (or is it a 1990s one?) and some throbbing electro drive, and the results are both personal and intense.

In short, New Cool Collective Big Band’s PACHINKO is a strong and kinetic album that will leave music lovers stupefied. Musically it’s a masterpiece—albeit a schizophrenic one—coming from a group that stands apart from every other big band on the planet and who once again prove what amazing stuff you can up with as long as you are open to reinventing a genre.