Last summer I got invited to play at the first edition of SHUDDAH CUDDAH WUDDAH, a new jazz night at The Other Side, a venue that was also new to me at the time. I got invited by Jandrik, also known under the moniker Ydesire for his music, who also played at the event. Jandrik and I share quite a long musical history, we share a lot of our musical taste, and he played at one of my events too, an experimental beat night in 2018. So of course I wanted to play at this event, both to support my friend and also out of curiosity, to see what this new place and event was about.
Every SHUDDAH CUDDAH WUDDAH night is structured around one live local jazz act, with a DJ or electronic act playing before and after the live show. At several previous editions the main act was Nino, a trio founded by David van der Grinten, also known for his work on the keys with SMANDEM. David is one of the co-founders of SHUDDAH CUDDAH WUDDAH and does the programming for the live acts together with Doeshka Vrede, while Jandrik focusses more on the DJ's. Nino played the first time as a trio, and two times accompanied by local artists, AVA LAVÁ and Nicolò Ricci respectively. Other nights had PRTAK and JMP as their main act. As I mentioned before, every night features 2 DJ's or electronic acts too, to play before and after the main act. What I like is how diverse their program has been so far. The choices as accompanying acts have made these nights even more interesting. People that have played here include but are not limited too All1ne, Phantom Wizard, Mo Wrights and Nur B, just to name a few. Even though I don't associate all those names with jazz, I could see them perfectly work on a jazz night.
For the upcoming event they got some personal favorites: Jamie Peet, Glenn Gaddum Jr. and Micah Graves are playing as the live act of the evening with support of Stefnitz and lofi prototype (another one that I go way back with). Even though I know most of the names on the line up I'm sure will be surprised by the live act going directions I didn't hear from them before. And the DJ's will bring their own flavours to the table too.
Another thing I want to point out is how well the venue works for this event. Walking in, the first thing you'll notice could very well be the big eye behind the stage. This eye is the project of Lisa Derksen Castillo. The first time I saw (another iteration) of her Eye, was years ago, when I got to play a live set at a local film festival and I was intrigued the moment I saw it. So it pleases me to see that a beautiful visual installation like hers is momentarily stationed at a venue like The Other Side. Besides the installation, the venue is decorated with plants and during the jazz nights, there are comfortable couches and chairs, instead of a big empty floor. This gives the nights even more of a living room coziness instead of a club-like feeling, which it also transforms into every now and then. And the sound is really good too. I've been told that a lot of work has been done on the acoustics of the place. But even before I knew that, I remember being impressed with how everything sounded there. Just as much from the audience perspective as from the stage.
So I'll be there this Thursday, to support my friends, support local music, to get surprised and of course to enjoy a night filled with good music. I hope to see you all there, to keep new initiatives like this alive!
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