THE BEAU HUNKS

The Beau Hunks

The Beau Hunks are named after a Laurel & Hardy film. The orchestra specializes in performing music from films by the comedy duo, composed by Leroy Shield (1893-1962) and Marvin Hatley (1905-1986). Assisted by researcher Piet Schreuders The Beau Hunks reconstruct and arrange scores for American films from the thirties, ...
Full biography

Members

Menno Daams   arrangeur, trompet
Ronald Jansen Heijtmajer   klarinet, saxofoon
Robert Veen   arrangeur, klarinet, saxofoon
Jilt Jansma   trombone
Peter Stove   arrangeur, tuba
Ton van Bergeijk   banjo, gitaar, ukulele
Ilona De Groot   viool
Louis Debij   drums
Tineke De Jong   viool
Jakob Klaasse   piano, producer
Gert-Jan Blom   basgitaar, zingende zaag
Jan Robijns   arrangeur, piano
More results Less results

Former members

Cok van Vuuren   gitaar

Mentioned in the biography of

1948   Jakob Klaasse
1981   Johan Visser
1990   Dutch Swing College Band
1991   Leo van Oostrom
1996   Allard Buwalda
More results Less results

Biography The Beau Hunks

The Beau Hunks are named after a Laurel & Hardy film. The orchestra specializes in performing music from films by the comedy duo, composed by Leroy Shield (1893-1962) and Marvin Hatley (1905-1986). Assisted by researcher Piet Schreuders The Beau Hunks reconstruct and arrange scores for American films from the thirties, most notably those made by producer/director Hal Roach (1892-1992), known for his work with Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Mack Sennett and The Little Rascals. Later the ensemble also takes on other music from the twenties to forties, on the border of jazz and popular music.

1991 - 1994

Out of an interest and love for Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy's movies bassist-arranger Gert-Jan Blom and researcher Piet Schreuders decide to perform the accompanying scores by Leroy Shield (1893-1962) and Marvin Hatley (1905-1986) live. It is not an easy task they have set themselves, since the written scores for most of their composition no longer exist. The pieces are therefore transcribed from the original soundtracks. Blom assembles a small orchestra of style specialists mastering the instrumental techniques from the thirties in detail. Thus The Beau Hunks are born, named after a flick from the Laurel & Hardy oeuvre from 1931. After a number of live performances where they accompany the original films, the ensemble enters the studio to record the CD The Original Laurel & Hardy Music, Volume 1, followed in 1993 by Volume 2. 1996 sees the release of On To The Show! with more music for the shorts producer/director Hal Roach brought to cinemas in the 1930s.

1995 - 1997

The Beau Hunks broaden their repertoire and record the CD Fingerbustin', featuring saxophone virtuoso Ronald Jansen Heijtmajer. The album contains jazz and novelty music from the period 1910-1942, with compositions by Jimmy Dorsey, Jelly Roll Morton and Felix Arndt. The album is recorded in mono for authentic effect. The CD Celebration On The Planet Mars (1996) features the orchestra under the name of The Wooden Indians playing music by the American Raymond Scott, an unusual composer who combined Swing Era jazz with studio experiments, and whose music achieved fame in the early Loony Tunes films by Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and others. Manhattan Minuet features more material by Scott. In 1999 The Beau Hunks join forces with the Metropole Orchestra to perform Raymond Scott's big band music: The Chesterfield Arrangements 1937-'38. Additional material is released on the CD Kodachrome (2002).

1998 - 2000

In een grote bezetting (met 35 muzikanten, gedirigeerd door Jan Stulen) storten The Beau Hunks zich in 1998 op het werk van de Amerikaanse componist en arrangeur Ferde Grofé, vooral bekend door zijn werk voor het orkest van Paul Whiteman. In een kleinere bezetting, en onder de naam The Beau Hunks Saxophone Soctette, stort de groep zich op virtuoos saxofoonrepertoire uit de jaren '30. De naam Soctette is overigens ook terug te voeren op de saxofoonsectie van het orkest van Whiteman. De gelijknamige CD verschijnt in 1999 (met een hoestekening van de beroemde cartoonist Robert Crumb – een fan van de band), gevolgd door Contrasts (2003). Out Of Nowhere (1999) neemt het Saxophone Soctette op met de hoogbejaarde Amerikaanse altsaxofonist Al Gallodoro, die nog in de oorspronkelijke bezetting onder Paul Whiteman had gediend. De drie CD's, gecombineerd met Fungerbustin' verschijnen in een 4 CD-box onder de titel The Ultimate Sax Box.

2001 - 2011

The Beau Hunks co-operate once again with the Metropole Orchestra to perform the soundtrack of the Laurel & Hardy film Our Relations. The original scores of Leroy Shields's music surfaced in a Los Angeles archive in 1994 and 1995. In 2001 the recordings are released on CD.

Audio/Video The Beau Hunks