In the first year of their existence, the Rotterdam jazz formation Monsieur Dubois advanced to the finals of the Dutch Jazz Competition in 1999. At that time their repertoire consisted mainly of covers of Blue Note songs. A lot has changed since then and Monsieur Dubois has focused on a genre they call 'danceable hard jazz'. This cross between jungle beats, funk and afrogrooves is complemented by
… their original soul jazz foundation. Former trumpet player Arthur Flink in particular was responsible for the new path taken by Monsieur Dubois. The strongest compositions are therefore his. When he sought his own direction with State Of Monc, the rest of the company continued with trumpet player Dirk Beets, returning to a more conventional sound. Ruff has divided the playing time of the CD in a fair way so that both periods are covered equally long. Either way, Monsieur Dubois gives the Dutch jazz world a spicy and much-needed injection. (AD)more
