How much Aretha goes into one band… how many British punks do you need to form an army… how shiny must a Lambretta be… how many R.A.F. labels do you wear on your Parka? It’s all of none importance…
After surviving 15 years of devotion, emotion and dedication into Golden Green, Rik decided to follow this path by any means necessary and formed Maximum Basie… after witnessing several Bellrays shows… after spending hours, days, months locked up in a room with nothing but the Atlantic Recordings of Aretha Franklin on a twisted compact disk player and an old black Rickenbacker that survived the punkyears…
It’s all about the Soul, about life, about blood, songwriting, practice, gigging…
Wanda (Antwerp), a fabulous natural voice, gives songs such as ‘Ink my soul’, ‘Move on up’… ‘the quiver down the backbone’ they need, Gunter (bass/Ghent) and Dany(drums/Dendermonde) and Raf (Keys/Antwerp) are there to shake those booties and Punk never died… Maximum Basie is Heavy Soul, it’s the Art of Rock & Roll, it’s limitless as music should be… Maximum Basie is all about dedication…
The sound of the band is steeped in tradition with sources from Ike & Tina Turner, Northern Soul, Delta Blues, Funk, Janis Joplin, Aretha of course, the Bellrays of course… Dylan once said: ‘I’m a song and dance-man’ and that’s what it’s all about!
Right now Maximum Basie recorded ‘Boom Boom Soul’, a mixture of Soul, Funk, Blues and Sex! It’s a SOULBOMB with Wanda doing what she does best: moving the borders where most ‘singers’ stop… she’s supported by Josie, a backing tsunami from the Netherlands and the result is really A!MA!ZING! Dig that Beat, people!!!
Since a few weeks, Judith Okon joined the band, a young & gifted soulsinger!
