Heleen van den Hombergh is working on a new project and album called Sapiens Unlimited, inspired by the roots of humankind still visible and sensible in our life today. Eleven original songs were recently recorded to be published in 2024. To stay in the loop leave your name above - or at the contact page!
Stage programmers in NL click HERE.
Music fans: listen to the SOUND SNIPPET on the blog page of Sapiens Unlimited.
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Heleen has received many great reviews as a singer and composer. Her professional singing career began when piano miracle Bert van den Brink heard Heleen’s voice in 2000 and spoke of “love on first hearing” . With him, bass player Tony Overwater and percussionist Joshua Samson she recorded two albums and a live recorded DVD and performed at the North Sea Jazz festival, Concertgebouw, BIMhuis, and many other fine stages in the Netherlands and abroad.
Heleen's first album Heard in the Scene (2002) mainly consisted of jazz & soul repertoire. For her second album and theater tour with the same band, under the title Rush in the Woods! (2004) , Heleen's long-standing passion for tropical forests inspired the lyrics and compositions, all originals. With a new team, consisting of Jeroen Vierdag (bass), Erik Rutjes (guitar), Karel Boehlee (piano) and Bart Fermie (percussion). The title Way Back Home (2011) reveals her search that has led to this musical tribute to life, despite all loss and longing. Her fourth solo album Blue Lifeblood (2018) is dedicated to the the tenderness and power of the water world. Happily reunited with Bert van den Brink, this time with bass player Theo de Jong and percussionist Shahin During, she stepped up to another level of vocal performance. In the same year she recorded an album with jazz standards with Steffen t Hart, Songs for a Rainy Day (2018).
With Sapiens Unlimited (forthcoming, 2024/5) a new album made up of 100 % Heleen's originals will see the light. This time with Erik Rutjes (guitar and co-production), Jeroen Vierdag (bass), Arthur Lijten (drums, percussion) and Marcus Olgers (keys & sounds). Listen on the blog page to the first sound snippets. Release of the first song is expected summer 2024.
Beside being a singer and songwriter Heleen is a coach of other singers in interpretation, performing, recording and songwriting. And all along, she has been active as an advisor in nature conservation world wide. Her enduring combined passion led to her creating Green Beat Performers, an initiative to promote nature-inspired music and musicians and their cooperation with social change makers. With IUCN NL and partners, she has developed nature inspired music projects in Indonesia, Brazil/Paraguay and Ghana. She seeks new collaborations with nature inspired songwriting and Sapiens Unlimited in the years to come.
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Heleen van den Hombergh +31-6-23082239
contact @ heleenvandenhombergh.com
Blue lifeblood
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it runs through my veins
ever since I was born
I know
she was blue too
she was blue too
blue lifeblood
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it runs through my veins
ever since I was born
I know
I took so many roads, traveled all across the globe
but I come across it, wherever I go
blue lifeblood
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blue lifeblood
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it runs through our veins
ever since we were born
well I guess I know
first we lived in the sea
then became apes in a tree
but now we're stranded
man belongs to the land
but we'll crawl and crave for we'll always always
long for where we come from
long for where we come from, we long
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and then we dive and dive and find ourselves with
blue lifeblood
​
it runs through our veins
wherever we were born
that's what I've seen
traveled so many times
saw such precious places
the tender power of the water world
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blue lifeblood
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Heleen van den Hombergh
“Intimate and tender, but also convincing and powerful”
(Frans van Leeuwen NRC Handelsblad, NL)
“Van den Hombergh sounds deeper, richer and riper , in the high and low registers”. (Amanda Kuyper, NRC Handelsblad, NL)
“Authentic passion and artistry, a true story to tell and the talent to make it beautiful” (Judith Schlesinger All Music Guide, Jazz Institute Chicago, USA)
“Stylish and unusual (…) her soulful lyrics and silken tones speak for themselves. (Jack Massarik Evening Standard, UK)
“A very beautiful mixture of jazz, pop and soul” (Wolfgang Platzeck WAZ Newspaper, Germany)
“Van den Hombergh and her united band members take each other to higher levels of performance…Van den Hombergh has an expressive voice (…) her singing is always emotional and the lyrics are universal. (Ruud Heiijer Heaven Pop Magazine, NL)
“Here sings a personality you can’t deny” …. “Good van den Hombergh is back” (Maartje den Breejen Parool, NL)
“A very beautiful voice, a convincing performance, authentic inspiration” (Hans Invernezzi Gelderlander/Stentor, NL)
Links:
Heleen’s Cds on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/heleen-van-den-hombergh
/id307599972
Some videos of Heleen’s songs and performances:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHyst4fo49YfvSRM
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Heleen’s Green Beat Performers active in the Brazilian-Paraguayan Pantanal area:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHyst4fo49YeaXmk
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Green Beat Performers news and info:
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