Ekseption was famous during the late sixties/early seventies for the way it combined themes from classical composers with contemporary rock and jazz in a blend of dominating, virtuoso keys and trumpet plus sax(es).
The story of Ekseption as we know it begins when they won the first prize at the Loosdrecht Jazz Festival in 1968, and they were rewarded with a record contract with Philips. At the suggestion of Rick van der Linden, the band’s keyboard player, they decided to record rock versions of Beethoven’s “Fifth” and Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance”. Although initially the single with “The Fifth” did not catch on, three months after it was released suddenly it began to sell like hotcakes, and the basis for the now famous Ekseption formula was established: a cocktail of classical music with (symphonic) rock and jazz. Following the success of the single, their first album was recorded, which contained a mix of covers, classical themes in a rock/jazz setting, and one song written by the band.
The group started out playing jazz, pop and R&B covers, but, impressed by a gig of The Nice, Rick van der Linden decided to concentrate on producing classical rock, modern re-interpretations of classical works with bass, drums and horn charts.
Most of their albums contain both original songs and re-interpreted classical pieces.
Van der Linden left the group in late 1973 to form Trace, and he recorded three astonishing symphonic rock albums with this band. (during which time he was replaced by Dutch keyboardist Hans Jansen. Jansen took the band in a jazzier direction, with two LPs of mostly original compositions, but lackluster sales caused the band to break up in 1976. An offshoot band, named Spin, formed later that year and released two more albums, but success also eluded them.)
In 1978 Rick van der Linden and Rein van den Broek, Ekseption’s trumpet player, came together and they decided to reunite Ekseption with the old line-up: Peter de Leeuwe (drums), Cor Dekker (bass), Dick Remelink (sax), and of course Rein and Rick. They recorded “EKSEPTION 78” in a time when symphonic rock and prog rock were not in vogue, and “EKSEPTION 78” did not have the commercial success that was hoped for. Hoping to restore some of that success Ekseption released an album in 1981 with new recordings of their old hits together with two new tracks, “Dance Macabre”. But when this album failed to be a success as well Rick and Rein decided to call it quits. In 1989 a new attempt was made at a comeback with Ekseption. They recorded “EKSEPTION’89”, a CD with again old material in new arrangements as well as a couple of new tracks. Again it did not work out the way Ekseption had hoped, and the scenario of 1981 repeated itself. In 1994 Ekseption came together again for some live performances, and a live album was recorded. However, the album contains tepid, uninspired performances of old material, and it seemed that now the final curtain had fallen for Ekseption.
In 2001 Rick released a solo album where he fused the church organ with rock music in new arrangements of the music he had performed with Trace and Ekseption. He decided to rejuvenate Ekseption with some new blood in the shape of Mark Inneo on drums, Meredith Nelson on bass and Bob Shields on guitar. With this new Ekseption and his wife on vocals he toured through Holland and Germany in 2003.
Rick van der Linden passed away on January 22, 2006.
Air:
Toccata:
The band Trace (live, 1977):
Personnel:
Rein van den Broek - trumpet, flugelhorn (1967-1989)
Rick van der Linden - keyboards (1969–1973, 1978–1981)
Cor Dekker - bass guitar (1969–1975)
Peter de Leeuwe - drums, vocal (1969, 1971–1972)
Rob Kruisman - saxophones, flute, vocal (1969)
Huib van Kampen - solo guitar, tenor sax (1969)
Dennis Whitbread (also Withbread - real name Dennis Witbraad) - drums (1970)
Dick Remelink - saxophones, flutes (1970–1972)
Michel van Dijk - vocals (1970)
Linda van Dyck - vocals (1970)
Erik van Lier - trombone, tuba (1970)
Tony Vos - saxophones, production (1969–1971)
Steve Allet (real name Koen Merkelbach) - vocals (1970)
Jan Vennik - saxophones, flute (1973–1979)
Pieter Voogt - drums (1973–1975)
Hans Jansen (real name Johannes J. Jansen) - keyboards (1974–1977)[4]
Hans Hollestelle - guitar (1974–1976)
Max Werner - drums (1981)
Johan Slager - bass, guitar (1981)
Jan Hollestelle - bass, synthesizers, cello (1976)
Cees Kranenburg - drums, percussion (1976)
anonymous studio musicians (1976)
Spin (1976-1977):
Rein van den Broek - trumpet
Jan Vennik - sax, flute
Hans Jansen - keyboards
Hans Hollestelle - guitar
Kees Kranenburg - drums
Jan Hollestelle - bass
Discografie:
Ekseption (LP), 1969
Beggar Julia's time trip (LP), 1970
Ekseption 3 (LP), 1970
Ekseption 00.04 (LP), 1971
Ekseption 5 (LP), 1972
Trinity (LP), 1973
Bingo (LP), 1974
Mindmirror (LP), 1975
With Love From (LP), 1975 - verzamelalbum met 2 nummers die niet eerder op LP waren voorgekomen
Back to the Classics (LP), 1977
Ekseption '78 (LP), 1978
Ekseption live at Idssteiner Schloss (LP), 1978
Dance Macabre (LP), 1981
Ekseption '89 (LP, CD), 1989
The reunion (CD), 1994
Others:
LP's: Ekseptional classics (1973), Greatest hits (1975), Best of Ekseption, Classic in pop, Ekseption witte album, Motive, Past and present, Featuring: Rick van der Linden (1983)
CD's: Greatest Hits - Ekseptional Classics, Plays Bach, Poplions, Reflection, Greatest Hits (1990), The very best of Ekseption (1991, heruitgave van Ekseption '78), With Love From (1993), Ekseption (1994, heruitgave van Ekseption '78), Best of Ekseption (1995, heruitgave van The reunion), The fifth (1998, heruitgave van Ekseptional classics), Selected Ekseption (1999, compilatie, dubbel-CD), Beggar Julia's time trip (Brazilië, 2000), With a smile (Rusland, 2000), Air (2001), Hollands glorie (2001, heruitgave van Ekseption '78), (The) Best of Ekseption (Zweitausendeins, 2002), Ekseption (The Universal Masters Collection) (2003), 3 Originals (2004), 5 / Ekseption (Italië, 2004), Ekseption 3 / Ekseption Plays Bach (Italië), Trinity / Ekseption 3 (2007)
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekseption
http://www.last.fm/music/Ekseption/+wiki
Read more: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekseption (Dutch)
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