Wouter Hamel

Hamel seems to stroll along the full array of musical styles and confidently picks out what suits him best. He flirts with jazz and pop without being bogged down by one particular style. At times he croons like Mel Tormé or Frank Sinatra. Hamel and Benny (Benny Sings) - who produced the album - have managed to seamlessly fuse the complete history of pop music into a remarkable debut album. Hamel’s music is contemporary pop music, just like early jazz used to be pure pop back in the day... "As a teenager I listened to P.J. Harvey, Smashing Pumpkins and was a huge fan of Jeff Buckley. I played my guitar to their albums and wrote songs trying to copy their styles. When I started studying music everything changed.“ Hamel fell for the legacy of vocalists such as Mel Tormé, Mark Murphy and Anita O'Day. Their mastery became his standard. Hamel participated in the Dutch Jazz Vocalist Competition in 2005. He was the first male singer to win this prize. Just months after winning the award, Hamel and band played at the internationally renowned North Sea Jazz Festival. He was the only vocalist to be nominated for the Deloitte Jazz Award in 2006. Subsequently, he was featured in several prime time TV shows such as Goedemorgen Nederland, Barend en van Dorp, De Wereld Draait Door and Pauw en Witteman. The obvious Great American Songbook material is not to be found on Hamel’s album. "I adore standards but wanted to seize the opportunity to debut with my own compositions.” Bart Suèr from Dox Records introduced Hamel to singer, songwriter and musician Benny Sings, who has released three albums on Dox Records / Sonar Kollektiv so far. Their combined styles - Benny’s pop approach and Hamel’s jazz background - are a perfect match. "We love sing-along songs, with a clear, catchy melody that may even sound familiar at times. It wasn't hard finding common ground when Benny heard my songs." Benny's playful and unique incorporation of vintage big band sounds has created a remarkable collaboration. These sounds fit the song structure like a glove, instead of merely passing by in the usual loops. Theatrical try-outs prompted very positive reviews. Critics describe Hamel as a 'modern easy crooner bursting with energy.'