Steven Wilson and band were going to perform on North Sea Jazz Festival The Netherlands on the 9th of July, but keyboardist/pianist Adam Holzman had arrived a few days earlier and was actually looking to do a solo performance somewhere in the area. Arne van Os van den Abeelen and Monica Scheepers made it possible that he could do a performance at a Jazz café named De Twee Spieghels in Leiden. I’ve never been to that café before, and have never seen Adam perform solo, so this would be something completely new for me. I did not know what to expect, so I was very curious.
The café itself is on the small side, and very cosy. And the end of the room there was a special corner with a small stage, where a piano, drum kit and some other instruments were standing. There was quite an audience, it was filled with people who were regular visitors of the café and people who came especially for Adam Holzman. Before he would start playing an announcer went to the stage and told a little story about Adam’s collaborations with several artists (including Miles Davis) and bands. When sir Holzman finally arrived on stage he got welcomed by a loud applause from the audience.
Adam’s performance was mostly based on improvisation. He had a small set list with him where he picked some tracks from, and gave it their own personal twist. He played and improvised on music from several artists like Miles Davis, Radiohead and Steven Wilson. The piano itself was pretty old and worn out. It was making some squeaks and creaks when Adam played, which gave a special feel to the complete performance. Mister Holzman is very concentrated when he plays, leaning over the piano most of the time. He’s very experienced and knows how to improvise, but also stay true to the original music of Steven Wilson. I recognized the Wilson songs, Abandoner and Deform To Form A Star, which gave me goosebumps.
He played for an hour, which he also promised. When Adam was finished he took a bow, and the audience responded with cheers and applause. He thanked Arne and Monica for making this small performance possible and also thanked the audience, who was completely silence most of the time during his performance. Too bad it was only an hour, because I really enjoyed his solo performance, so the hour went by fast. I hope he will do more of those solo performances in the Netherlands!
Adam Holzman performing Turnaround by Ornette Coleman:
You can also read my concert review on the website of Background Magazine:
http://www.backgroundmagazine.nl/Gigreviews/20160707AdamHolzman.html
All photos and video by me.
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Me with Adam Holzman:
Grendel HeadQuarters 
This is the awesome thing about Europe, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Asia etc is that famous musicians can walk in to a place and do an impromptu little show and people are all chuffed and glad to have them there and listen to them play and not yell out for the “hits” but treat them with dignity and respect as musicians giving them carte blanche to play what they want and as human beings and not smother them with flash cameras and asking for autographs. There is a certain admirable respect about it whereas over here they couldn’t do that because they’d be completely mobbed by people who were obsessed fans, drunk or just being grabby and stupid. I have seen it many times over here and it’s down right disgusting and I fully understand why even Canadian musicians have said in interviews that they appreciate fans abroad more than their hometown followers. I was born in the wrong country I tell you! lol. And as always Lady Ier, amazing pics and stories to tell ! : )
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Thank you very much for your sweet reply, dear Duke! 🙂 Yes, it’s very different in ‘our’ country indeed. But please, I hope to meet you someday here in The Netherlands, or the other way ’round, you’re a fantastic guy!
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It will happen one way or another Lady Ier ! And D’awwwwwwwwwww thanx ; )
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