Ludwig and Beyond – fluidorchestra

Made up of students and alumni of the Conservatoire of Maastricht, the line-up merges and summarizes three conventional formations: the symphony orchestra, the big band and the electric band. This is in alignment with the mix of styles that Passenier sets out to bring to the stage, exploring the boundaries of classical, jazz, funk, drum ‘n bass and hip hop.

Quite a range of styles to be mixed, but with Rogier van Otterloo Award winner Jesse Passenier, celebrated by the jury for his mature and greatly creative composing and arranging (RvO Award 2017), this challenge is in trusted hands. Passenier is known for his many arrangements for the Metropole Orchestra, wrote for the Heritage Orchestra, the Clazz Ensemble, the Dutch Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Royal Band of the Dutch Navy and has collaborated with Kurt Elling, Vince Mendoza, Jacob Collier, Jörg Achim Keller, Reinier Baas, Ruben Hein, Ellen ten Damme and many others.

Carlo Nardozza studied music in Maastricht with Rob Bruynen, Claudius Valk and Bert Joris, and graduated cum laude. During his studies he founded his own Carlo Nardozza Quintet, and started to write his own music for this band, especially based on world music.
They toured in Belgium, Romania, France and Italy to present their first album “Making Choices” which received great comments from Belgian press. Their second album came out in 2008. They also received 3 prices in 3 different countries: The Blue Note Young Jazz Price (BE), Best Compositions price Tremplin Jazz Festival Avignon (FR) and the Jerry Van Rooyen Jazz Award (NL). Nardozza played in Henri Texier’s Red Route Quintet and worked with Bert Joris, Philip Catherine, George Duke, Bobby Shew, Lee Konitz, Rosenberg 3, Brussels Jazz orchestra, WDR Big Band, and many more.
At the moment he is a member of the European Jazz trumpets with Pierre Drevet, Dennis Leloup, Bert Joris, to name a few. Recent releases are „11” in duo with pianist Michelino Bisceglia, and Duology, another duo album with Christophe Devisscher on bass.

Reiner Witzel studied saxophone at the “Musikhochschule Köln” and the “Manhattan School of Music” in New York with Bob Mintzer, David Liebman, John Purcell, Bill Evans, Dick Oatts and others. He received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture NRW and numerous awards including the promotional award of the city of Düsseldorf.
With his own groups the “Reiner Witzel Group”, “Witzel`s Venue” and “Drei im roten Kreis” he released CD´s featuring guests such as David Sanborn, Lew Soloff and Vernon Reid.
He toured all over the world, including North-and South-America, Africa and Asia and played on many festivals , including the Montreux Jazzfestival, Moscow Jazzfestival, Montevideo Jazzfestival and the Yaounde Jazzfestival.
He teaches saxophone at the Düsseldorf College of Music, the Frankfurt College of Music and the Conservatory of Maastricht.

DJ Vindictiv, or Chris Smith (1978), fell in love with scratching and mixing in the early ’90 – an art that has played a key role in hip hop music from the very beginning.
As a 15 year old, he bought his first turning table. Four years later he made it into the finals of the Dutch DMC (Disco Mix Club) Championships. A significant next step was his time with DJ Grazzhoppa’s DJ Big Band, with which Vindictiv performed on major festivals, such as Lowlands, Jazz Middelheim and Roskilde.
As a scratch DJ and producer he made music in a great variety of genres, collaborating with groups like Nul Elf Acht, Pieter Matthys & Sons Uniques, the Fluid Orchestra and Says Who? & DJ Vindictiv. In addition, he has shared the stage the stage with Public Enemy, De La Soul, Kid Koala, Wayne Shorter, Eric Vloeimans, Baba Sissoko and many others.

Fringe Orchestra

Jorik Bergman – Flute / Piccolo
Pierre Vyncke – Alto Saxophone / Clarinet
Gregor Oehlmann – Alto Saxophone
Robin Rebetez –Tenor Saxophone / Bass Clarinet
Katharina Pfeifer – Tenor Saxophone
David Jans – Baritone Saxophone
Hugo Pieters – Horn
Felix Brassel – Trumpet
Sten Pelzer – Trumpet
Yenzi Mseleku – Trombone
Martin Garnier – Bass Trombone
Micky Hong – Piano
Kevin Coenen – Keys
Filippo Ieraci – Electric Guitar
Martin Löhrer – Electric Bass
Yannick Heselle – Acoustic Bass
Arno Grootaers – Drums