Monsieur Dubois

“As a daily routine Monsieur Dubois, a retired ornithologist, would live his life looking up to the sky in search of something special. After doing so for years, his uneventful life brutally ended, when one day Dubois spotted six as of yet undiscovered species of all sorts. They were flying together most elegantly and did so in one tight formation! Overwhelmed by emotions, the fanatic birdwatcher produced a heartfelt primordial shout and instantly got into a state of shock, having just encountered such tremendous beauty. Breathing out his very last breath, the old man gave this particular group his name and died happily ever after…“

In the past years, Monsieur Dubois created a strong live reputation with an attractive mix of Junglebeats, Funk, Souljazz and Afrogrooves, a.k.a. “Danceable Hardjazz”. With this convincing hybrid, catchy and sophisticated sound, Monsieur Dubois has been able to attract a very diverse, international public.

At the beginning of 2006 the long awaited début album by Monsieur Dubois finally arrived: ”Ruff” on Challenge Records (CR77043). Ruff was welcomed by the international press with many positive remarks and after reaching a leading place in the Dutch Jazzcharts, got nominated for the Dutch Grammy, the Edison Award.

The second Monsieur Dubois-album arrived in september 2007: “Soul Integration” (Challenge Records, CR77049), a collaboration with American tromboneplayer and vocalist Joseph Bowie, leader from the legendary, New-York punkfunk group Defunkt. After a stunning CD-presentation in Amsterdam, Monsieur Dubois and Joseph Bowie will continue touring together in 2008.

The press welcomed ”Soul Integration” as a convincing follow-up on their début:

“…sounds like truly urgent danceable hardjazz!”
Volkskrant – Koen Schouten

“A strong and tight sounding unit [...] With Soul Integration Monsieur Dubois prooves to be ready to conquer the rest of Europe…” 4,5 stars review
JAZZ magazine – André Dadi

“An album that leaves behind a lot of the current hypes in a brilliant way”
De Morgen – Didier Wijnants

Some time ago a tip from DJ Soul Rabbi lead Monsieur Dubois to Joseph Bowie, who appeared to have previously moved to The Netherlands. During several spectecular try-outs it was evident that the expressive sound of this remarkable musician provided Monsieur Dubois with a formidable extra weapon!

Bowie, youngest member from a musical family (brother of Lester and Byron Bowie) entered the scene late 70’s with his visionary band Defunkt and thus created a strong source of inspiration for many groups, amongst others Living Colour and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In the end of 2006, only 10 month after releasing “Ruff”, Monsieur Dubois entered the renowned Studio 150 in Amsterdam and recorded a new album together with Joseph Bowie. His unique, extravagant trombone-sound and his warm and raw vocals made “Soul Integration” turn into an extra versatile album. Altogether Monsieur Dubois beautifully shows off his many colored character, from the furious opener “Murw”, spice-it-up track “Pulpo”, to the ballad “You Got Me Thinking” and breathtaking “Berlin -20” back to the steaming titletrack “The Soul Integration”.

DUBOIS IN RUSSIA !
Over the past years Monsieur Dubois has become increasingly popular in the East. After touring to and through the Baltic states and St Petersburg in 2004, Monsieur Dubois received new invitations to come over and perform in Russia in the summer of 2007. The tour kicked ass rightaway, starting in St Petersburg were they met many old friends and fans at the JFC Jazzclub. Next came Moscow where they did a show at the prestigious Union of Composers Club and set foot on the Red Square. Then Dubois flew all the way to the Ural, where they had the pleasure of performing for an audience of 50.000 people at the annual “Day of the City” in Magnitogorsk. The tour ended even more Eastern at the borders with Asia, with a concert at the beautiful Prokofiev Philharmonic hall of Chelyabinsk.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
From it’s kick-off in 1999, Monsieur Dubois has been in the news for various occasions. A few highlights: the finals at the Dutch Jazz Competition (2001), the shows at the North Sea Jazz Festival (2002 and 2006), the legendary Soulful Boulevard in Maastricht (2004), and all the clubnights Monsieur Dubois hosted in Rotterdam and Amsterdam; In the first years legendary Blue Beatz-specials at club Blauwe Vis, Supersonik at Off_Corso (with the MFP collective), Jazzedelics at Mazzo and Panama together with DJ StevendePeven, From 2004 on Monsieur Dubois does regular, smoking Groove Soul party’s at Cafe Dizzy’s in Rotterdam, together with one of the biggest, living raregroove masters: DJ SOUL RABBI.

DUTCH NU-JAZZ MOVEMENT
In order to put extra force to nu-jazz in the “Lowlands”, Monsieur Dubois together with State Of Monc founded the Dutch Nu-Jazz Movement early 2006. Since March 2006 DNJM has been collaborating with the party people from Wicked