"Sons of the New World is a cycle of new compositions dedicated to the changes in the New World. Everything is in movement, the Arabic revolution, the climate changes, worldwide economical crisis.
We are living in turbulent times... And we are facing the huge challenge to lead the world of tomorrow on the right track.
All this leaves a big impression on me. I don’t write from an ivory tower, and my social engagement reflects itself in my music.
For this cycle, I wrote twelve compositions, for my jazz trio (with Teun Verbruggen (drums) and Sean Fasciani (bass) and 5 wind instruments: clarinet (Myrddin De Cauter who also plays guitar on one song which is his own composition), sax (Michael Campagna), horn (Bart Indevuyst), trumpet (Jo Hermans) and trombone (Pieter Kindt). All great young Flemish musicians, apart from saxophone player Michael Campagna who is an Italian-American living in Genua, and whom I met during the Coltrane-project that we did together with José James.
All compositions are based on social themes, the nuclear disaster in Japan, de revolution in the Middle East, the disaster at Pukkelpop festival,…
The pieces also emit a form of hope: a naïve positivism which believes that the good side of human kind can be solicited in times when everything becomes dark.
In extension the title could also read: "Sons of the New World, a sign of hope".
Jef Neve
