Old School Band

Marnix Busstra Old School Band

Mark Stoop (drums) – Marnix Busstra (guitar) – Norbert  Sollewijn Gelpke (bass) – Eric van de Bovenkamp (keys)

Guitarist/composer Marnix Busstra and bassist Norbert Sollewijn Gelpke go way back. They met no less than forty-five years ago in kindergarten, and they went to the same elementary school and high school, where they started their first band, Topaz. After that came the bands Last Resort (playing the 1987 North Sea Jazz Festival) and Second Vision, the latter a successful group both nationally and abroad.

In 2014, the two friends were contemplating a new musical endeavor and came up with the plan to start a new band. With their first school band, in the late ‘80s, they played fusion with a funky rhythm section. Their interest in that typical ‘80s fusion had passed away, but their love for the funky foundation never faded. So they asked two funk specialists for the job: Eric van de Bovenkamp on keys and Mark Stoop on drums: the right guys on the right places!

The term ‘old school’ can be applied to all kinds of things. To this band, it mostly refers to the classic jazz guitar/organ combination. Not for personal nostalgic reasons (the bandmembers became musically aware in the ‘80s…) but because of the ambience and expressiveness of that musical merger.

Each of these four musicians is considered an authority in the Old School Bands style of music, in which the advanced, yet completely in-the-pocket grooves of bassist Norbert and drummer Mark, and Erics creative rhythmical approach perfectly link to Marnix’ distinctive guitar solos.

In brief? First-class jazz with a solid touch of funk: Old School at its best! The first Old School Band album was released in September 2017 and got amazing reviews worldwide.

Huffington Post: “For those who love a good old school band; a tight no-nonsense grooving ensemble with funk-driven bass and drums, a wizard on keyboards and an extraordinarily tasteful guitarist with his own signature sound, then go no further than Dutch guitarist Marnix Busstra’s latest Old School Band.”

The second album was released in 2022, entitled ‘Casual Chic’, capturing the musical development of the band in 9 brand new compositions.