Kyteman
Biografie
A musical miracle was performed in the Melkweg in Amsterdam on Saturday night. Colin Benders, aka Kyteman, a 22-year-old trumpet player from Utrecht, graced the stage with his Hip-Hop Orchestra. With over twenty musicians joining him, he gave a show of unsurpassed eloquence and expression.
The preceding omens had been good. Kyteman’s debut album, The Hermit Sessions, was released this past week, and is a record with a unique variety of music styles: pop, reggae, jazz and hip-hop, effortlessly blended together. Several shows with full orchestra also provided harbingers for Kyteman’s success in the Melkweg. He started his tour with three shows before playing in Amsterdam, and anyone witnessing his performances in the Helling in Utrecht, at Noorderslag in Groningen, or at the album release at VPRO’s 3voor12 quickly ran out of superlatives to describe them.
Strings, horns and rhythm section
It’s called a hip-hop orchestra on paper, but the music being played in a packed Melkweg on Saturday had little to do with this moniker, despite quality rapping from Pax and Reazun. Kyteman’s music contained no scratching, nor were there any samples to be heard, but rather a string quintet, three horns and a large rhythm section.
Benders, somewhat resembling the Pied Piper, moved lithely over the stage, dressed in black with hat on his head, trumpet in hand. First a duet with the horn player, then a dance to the raps, upon which he conducted the entire band in full harmony song, and at one point, whistling the chorus in Blow the Whistle On ‘Em.
It was truly remarkable was how such a diverse musical ensemble was able to refrain from sounding chaotic at any time. Horns and strings were easily distinguishable from one another, and fantastic reggae dubs could be heard slicing through the full sound of the orchestra.
The sound as well as the view was overwhelming, but Benders held everyone within the clear borders of each song’s essence. Even when he called on the more than twenty musicians to jam halfway through the show, the resulting music sounded disciplined and uplifting.
Contact:
Management, label Jammm: Nancy Poleon, (nancy@jammm.nl)
Bookings: