Esther Van Hees - Nazomer (2026) [Hi-Res]

A tribute to the Dutch-language art song – from Adèle Bloemendaal to Drs. P (and with a Flemish accent)

‘Nazomer’ is the new album and song programme by singer Esther Van Hees (1991), in which she pays tribute to the Dutch-language art song, full of reverence and admiration for the craftsmanship of great role models such as Adèle Bloemendaal, Wim Sonneveld, Willem Nijholt, Gerard Cox and Jenny Arean.

Esther is originally from Belgium and moved to the Netherlands at the age of eighteen to study at the conservatoire. She has been building her singing career from Amsterdam for years.

Last autumn 2025, she could scarcely believe her ears when Cor Bakker announced on the radio that she had won the Edison Jazz – Nationaal Vocaal with her duo Blue Sands.

Esther first discovered her idols at a young age through old films and her parents’ CD collection. Artists such as Judy Garland, Wim Sonneveld, Adèle Bloemendaal, Willem Nijholt and Doris Day quickly became her great role models, each with their own unique voice and approach to the lyrics, which drew on their own life stories. As a teenager, she sang constantly and was heard on the street by the conductor of a local big band, who invited her to perform as a soloist.

The album features, amongst other tracks, ‘The Way We Were’ (made famous by Barbra Streisand) in a sensitive translation by Friso Wiegersma (lyricist and partner of Wim Sonneveld).

Esther also sings the track ‘Ik zou alles willen geven’, a lesser-known love song that Rita Hovink had recorded two weeks before her far too early death.

Although it never became a hit, for Esther it is one of the most beautiful songs from Hovink’s repertoire. ‘Nazomer’, the title track of the album, is an unknown piece by Drs. P, which Jenny Arean sang on television in the 1970s and which only resurfaced in the archives years later. Songs by Ramses Shaffy, Kees van Kooten, Lennart Nijgh and Ruud Box can also be heard on “Nazomer”.

On the record, Esther is accompanied by top musicians: Bert van den Brink (piano), Tim Langedijk (guitar), Jeroen Vierdag (bass) and Marcel Sierierse (drums).

On ‘Nazomer’, Esther sings with great joy in her mother tongue, performing a selection from the treasure trove of Dutch songs – albeit with a Flemish accent.

Esther van Hees, vocals
Bert van den Brink, piano
Tim Langedijk, guitar
Jeroen Vierdag, bassist, arranger
Marcel Serierse, drums