Auratones

THE AURATONESThe Dutch group The Auratones was founded by guitarist Tjeerd van Zanen, saxofonist Rolf Delfos en bassist Boudewijn Lucas in 1996. They selected a number of very fine musicians who had worked with some of the best bands and artists in Holland and abroad, all jazz & funk orientated. Its a seven piece band: drums & bass, guitar & keys and three hornplayers.The first CD Funny Sounds, which was released 1997 through Red Bullet records, flirted with easy tune, a retrostyle, hot and hip in the London discos during those days. The hype disappeared, but The Auratones remained. Soon the direction in the music changed to funky souljazz, some of it with a latin flavour. It proved an ideal combination of groovy music and the freedom of jazz improvisation: hot & steamy crowds can tell!Many clubgigs and jazzfestivals in Holland followed. The band gained a great live-reputation: an enormous drive, excellent music & presentation and humor on stage. In 00-01 they did get a regular gig at the jazzcafé Dizzy in Rotterdam. Every two weeks there was a new concert: an excellent opportunity to experiment and to compose new original material. In 02 the CD Jazz, Jazz, Jazz was released: a variety of 13 songs with one common factor: a heavy swinging rhythmsection, a tight hornsection and kick-ass solowork.In the meanwhile also the bigger festivals began to take notice of the Auratones. They played for instance at the Bossa Estufa-festival in Maastricht together with the New Cool Collective and Zuco 103, the World Port Jazzfestival in Rotterdam, twice at the worldfamous North Sea Jazzfestival in The Hague and in the Caribbean at the Heineken Jazzfestival on the island of Curaçao and the Riga jazzfestival in Latvia .The Auratones third album Mazzu Mazzu is now available through our site and downloadable via I-Tunes . This CD marks a new leap in the development of the music of the Auratones. The music is more subtile then ever and the grooves are deeper, but there are also some hilarious pieces on it. It is clear that the sound of the band becomes more and more unique.Some namedropping might be nice for those people who would like to know with whome the individual bandmembers did tour the world and perform with:Candy Dulfer & Funky Stuff, the Dutch based hardbop sextet The Houdinis (recorded in New York at Rudy van Gelders), the Bob Brookmeyer Bigband, Van Morisson, Toni Braxton, Trijntje Oosterhuis, the Paulo Gomes Group, Nueva Manteca, Jango Edwards, Hans Dulfer, Michiel Borstlap, Mike Del Ferro, Blowbeat, Cubop City Bigband, Flairck, Frank Grasso Bigband, Shirley Bassey, the Glenn Miller Orchestra and local heroes as Marco Borsato and the Golden Earring (who had a number one hit in the US), wellknown Dutchsingers Boris, Berget Lewis , Maud and Hind .ITS TIME TO MEET THE AURATONES!!!