“This band deserves to be heard around the world: It is a perfect sample of the high standard that Dutch jazz musicians have reached.”
It rarely happens that you want to see and hear a DVD again right away – but it’s what the Buzz Bros Band’s excellent and intriguing The Same New Story made me feel like. The DVD shows the band’s electric and acoustic jazz in an old factory that was fully redressed for the event, creating a perfect setting for their pleasurable, fusion-ish music. The band features Marnix Busstra on guitars, electric sitar and bouzouki, his brother Berthil Busstra on Fender Rhodes and other keys, René Dissel on bass, and Chris Strik on drums.
The music is groovy, muscular at times, funky and dynamic, but also pensive, tranquil, and dreamy. It’s all about interaction in a democratic and unified setting, where nobody wants to outplay the others, and egocentric behavior is unheard of. It’s an entire program built on perfect team work, with openness and relaxation being two of the band’s corner stones. The music can be ferocious, but the musicians are always in control – which doesn’t mean the performance won’t keep you riveted from start to finish.
Marnix Busstra’s compositions and melodic improvisations perfectly match Berthil Busstra’s tasteful work on synths and Fender Rhodes. Berthil manages to always make the right choices from the seductive large amount of sounds he has at hand, creating limitations while expressing himself to the max within the context of the band. René Dissel is both sharp-eared and considerate, and an important element of the band’s interactive style of playing.
Chris Strik is something else, really. This recording features him with brushes only – no sticks at all. Everyone who takes drums and drumming seriously should take ample time to carefully observe and analyze his playing, or even only his left hand technique. Just listen to “Well Done” and you’ll know what I mean: Well done, Chris! His visible passion and his expressive facial expressions add much to the visual attraction of the show.
The DVD has plenty of great moments, such as the duet in “Peaceful Daydream”, “Buzz Battle,” and the title song “The Same New Story”, featuring the brothers using a minimum of notes to say a lot. The concert ends with a beautiful rendition of “Castle In The Air”, featuring Marnix on bouzouki. This DVD deserves to be heard and seen around the world: It is a perfect sample of the high standard that Dutch jazz musicians have reached.