As of today, Harry Sacksioni’s double live album Vijfenzestig is available to stream and download on Spotify, Apple Music, and other digital music platforms!
Vijfenzestig features the complete live anniversary concert with which Harry toured throughout the Netherlands for five months, together with his band—Digmon Roovers, Michel Pagie, and Marten Scheffer. Given the large audiences it attracted, as well as the extremely enthusiastic responses during and after the performances and on social media, it proved to be one of his most successful tours. The album contains 24 tracks and offers a well-balanced overview of his compositions, from his early years to the present: from lyrical (Masai Mara), through swinging (The Killy, Killysong), to symphonic (Vensters), and many styles in between.
At the time, Harry said the following about the album:
If you spend almost every day of your life deeply immersed in creative processes and also confront theater audiences every evening with the direct results of that, it turns out to be possible, entirely unexpectedly… to be 65 years old!
I never thought something like that could happen so fast! It quite shocked me. On the other hand, it’s immediately a wonderful reason for a celebration! And at a celebration you invite your friends— in my case, very musical friends. I envisioned doing a tour with them in which I could present something from (almost) all the CDs and records I’ve made. And so it happened. We toured the Netherlands for three months, and at every performance the audience was more than a warm bath for us. My more recent compositions such as Stoute Schoenen, Masai Mara, and Brasilian Affair were received magnificently, and there was great recognition of earlier compositions such as De Vlechters, Elixer, 1984, De Svobodadans, and Escapade. But the biggest and, for me personally, most beautiful experience took place about twenty minutes after the intermission. As the first piece after the break, we played for the first time in 40 years (!) the 21-minute symphonic work VENSTERS, which I wrote in 1975—this time, of course, in band form. Never before had I experienced an audience giving a minutes-long standing ovation in the middle of the program! And after Vensters there were still about ten more pieces to come… In one word: AMAZING! (For this CD we did have to cut the length of that applause a bit…)
This double CD release is therefore a live record of what we were privileged to experience every evening: a celebration to be able to play for so many enthusiastic people, and also a celebration of recognition because of the older pieces. I thank the musicians Digmon Roovers, Michel Pagie, and Marten Scheffer for the wonderful time we shared together. And of course everyone else who contributed to this release, and especially the audience, who often lifted us to great heights!
I can’t imagine a more beautiful birthday celebration!
Harry Sacksioni