Welcome to the website of Martijn Schok |
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The
wonderful thing about boogie woogie, is the freedom to color your solos.
In my playing, I incorporate many of the musical influences I have experienced
over the years in the field of boogie woogie, piano blues and close related
musical genres. |
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Albert Ammons |
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Jimmy Yancey |
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In
the year 2000, Willie stopped performing after a well deserved career
of many succesful international tours and recording sessions. |
Little Willie Littlefield |
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Martijn en Big Joe Duskin (Cincinnati, 2002) |
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* In the summer of 2002 I was on stage in the USA with fifteen -mostly American- boogie woogie and blues pianists. Many of them I only knew from old albums, which I played over and over again when I was exploring the style in my early years. What a thrill to meet them in person. For example Mark Braun, who I knew from his Dutch Oldie Blues LP ‘Detroit Special'. Or the powerful playing of Bob Seeley and the wonderful Charlie Booty. Great to be right in the middle of the American boogie woogie community of boogie players, to play duets with them and to see their enthusiasm about how a European player of -at that time- twenty-eight interprets ‘their' American boogie style. Very inspiring and all wonderful people. Back to top |
l-r: Bob Seeley, Big Joe Duskin, Martijn Schok (during festival afterparty Cincinnati 2002) |
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* 2003, I head the pleasure to meet Jay McShann, before his concert at the North Sea Jazz Festival. In 1999 I saw McShann perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans (also Fats Domino, Ray Charles and Dr. John). Thanks to Raymond "Guitar Ray" Neijenhuis who played in McShann's accompanying band at the North Sea Jazz Festival, I was able to talk with McShann. It was a wonderful time. It made McShann feel good that young people still play boogie woogie and piano blues, and keeping it alive. At that time, McShann was 87 years. His performance was impressive. Swinging, soulful, with humor and a tremendous musical feeling. You could see the joy and happiness on his smiling face. I am very impressed by his repertoire, McShann is showing that boogie woogie, blues and jazz can be in fact one and the same style. Jay McShann passed away in 2006, he was 90 years old. |
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* In the early years of my piano playing, I regularly listened to early recordings of Ramsey Lewis. I was especially excited about the songs and groove in the style of The In Crowd. At that time I was mainly focused on boogie woogie and blues, and I didn't start trying to play in that style. It was really something different than the specific technique of a boogie left hand. I think it was in 2018 in a recording studio that bassist Hans Ruigrok asked me: shall we do something by Ramsey Lewis? With Hans' help, I started to delve into that style of playing (as well as other songs in the genre often called soul-jazz). I am impressed with how Ramsey Lewis has managed to develop such a recognizable and very typical piano style. Every time, at live performances it appears that these songs evoke recognition and enthusiasm because of the groove and unique sound of this repertoire. |
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Review
in the Zandvoortse Courant, 17 augustus 2023. Review in the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger (9 september 2022). "Seen
live, Martijn Schok and his trio impress both audiences who remain sitting
amazed at the authentic style of their playing and those in the mood to
hit the dance floor, to be treated to an irresistible helping of swing"
"One
of the best home-grown North Sea acts" "His
approach has no trouble living up to the expectations of the genre and
lacks nothing in tightness" "Every
time the Martijn Schok Boogie Woogie Trio takes to the stage it's party
time. Boogie-woogie pioneers such as Meade 'Lux' Lewis and Albert
Ammons would be amazed and overjoyed to see their tradition being kept
alive with such respect all the way across the Atlantic" "They
seem like a well-oiled machine, drawing on a vast amount of experience
to ingeniously breathe new life into old themes and classic riffs with
spot-on timing" "The
intriguing thing about Martijn Schok is the way he reconstructs genuine
boogie using the great old-timers as inspiration. He has obviously done
his homework and applies what he has found in recordings of Meade Lux
Lewis, Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons to his own work with remarkable
feeling. He isn't afraid of the most complex bass patterns, which he manages
to weave in with absolute naturalness and vitality" "We
have discovered that 'respectable' black tie music can actually have
a heart, and, at the same time, have once more been shown that young people,
too, are capable of demonstrating that heart" "(...)
Young Martijn Schok is a real discovery. With the guts of an old hand,
he turned the set after the break into a true experience. A blues from
Schok's own pen, one of the few slow numbers in the programme, turned
out to be an accomplished composition, in which, with faultless syncopation
in the top line and a powerful left hand, Martijn proved himself a match
for the old masters Dekker and Van Der Gaag. Schok can also swing a la
Ramsey Lewis (...)". "(...)
Martijn Schok and his backing duo actually play two musical styles simultaneously.
The basis is boogie woogie, the left hand striking the blues chords and
the right hand dancing an improvisation. The hammering boogie woogie style
sometimes bumps up the tempo considerably, but this poses no problem for
the trio. And that's putting it mildly. They can lay back a pause just
as easily, building the suspense of the Martijn Schok Trio experience
until the music suddenly becomes jazzy. With inventive passages full of
improvisation, Schok is proving to be a top pianist. The only real successor
to the famous Dutch honky-tonkers Rob Hoeke and Jaap Dekker. Music at
a high level of proficiency (...)". |
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Martijn, 4 years |
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Studying. Nine years. |
Martijn, 9 years |
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