Saturday April 5th, 2025, 8:00 PM – Behind the Dikes.
Boy’s Big Band, founded in the early 1960s, was a controversial and completely unique jazz orchestra. The musicians came from various directions on the Dutch jazz scene, and the music covered a wide range of styles, from traditional big band idiom to free jazz. All of this under the leadership of an extremely passionate, charismatic, often chaotic Boy Edgar (1915-1980). In the approximately ten years of its existence, the orchestra produced several records. BBB collaborated with American soloists, including Eric Dolphy, Nina Simone and Oliver Nelson. In 1964, Boy Edgar received the Wessel Ilcken Prize, a recognition for his great services to Dutch jazz. When Edgar died in 1980, the prize was renamed the Boy Edgar Prize, which tells you a lot.
In the autumn of 1960, trumpeter Ado Broodboom was approached by the newspaper Het Vrije Volk. The newspaper had existed for fifteen years and wanted to celebrate this extensively in the Concertgebouw, with a jazz orchestra on stage. In a short time, a big band was put together, consisting of bebop-oriented jazz musicians and professional musicians from the radio studios. The latter were a guarantee of the necessary discipline. Boy Edgar was asked to be the bandleader. The – in principle one-off – performance was a great success. Omroep VARA offered a contract. Boy’s Big Band was a fact. For ten years, the orchestra achieved great success: in radio and TV studios, live performances, and at international jazz festivals.
The lasting legacy consists of several records/CDs. In 1965, the LP Now’s the Time! was released. A year later, Finch Eye (title derived from the name Simon Vinkenoog) was released, which won an Edison. And in 2015 the Dutch Jazz Archive (NJA) produced Return – Boy’s Big Band, live recordings 1965-1966.
For more information and a playlist, please read the Guide.
Behind the Dikes – Hajé Nordbeck
“Boy Edgar: the double life of an all-rounder”, written by Marie-Claire Melzer & Marieke Klomp, is an excellent biography in which the many aspects of Edgar’s life – he was also a general practitioner, a PhD scientist, and much more – are described in a fascinating way.
