‘Make a life, not a living.’
Singer/pianist/producer Saskia Doornbos – her last name meaning ‘Thorn forest’ in Dutch!- (aka Pacwoman) was born in a small village in Holland in 1973. Her first musical memory was singing in church and threats of Calvinist music teachers. Later her parents bought her a piano, an instrument she still plays and adores.
She started singing and writing songs/poetry in pop and jazz bands in Amsterdam, toured with a puppet theatre and began experimenting with computer music. While studying music-technology she performed in experimental performances, wrote serial music for solo piano, made ‘sound-scape’ music, like, for example, the ‘The Joy of Hate’, for voice, electronics and church bells, which was reviewed in the Dutch press in 1999.
She toured with Palinckxs, an experimental rock/jazz band, with a live drum 'n bass act with singer Mola Sylla and her own band Wizza. In 1998 her song ‘Soulfood’, from her first acoustic mini album ‘Soundproof’ was nominated for a jazz/composition in Holland.
She recorded various demos in her home studio: the compilation album ‘Best of Wizza’ and ‘Timbuktu’ in 2000’. The latter is an acoustic album, recorded in a studio. Her vocals have also been used for ballet and TV, in collaboration with Han Otten from ‘Sound palette’.
Since 2000 she is based in London and has, besides singing jazz-standards and originals, produced the trip-hop inspired album ‘Cry for the Moon’ in 2002, of which the title track appeared on a compilation cd in Holland.
Her next cd, ‘Souvenirs’ 2003, with computer beats, vocals, saxophone, trumpet and piano is still influenced by hip hop, but more jazzy and up-tempo, and features the amazing trumpet player/bandleader Kevin G. Davy on two of the tracks.
The album ‘It's you’ produced in 2004 is the first one under the name Pacwoman. It is an up-tempo but mellow album, inspired by funk & jazz, with the brilliant guitarist Chris Letcher playing on the title track. Samples of the (spoken) voices of some of her heroes; Nina Simone, Bootsy Collins and Theolonious Monk, contribute to a unique sound.
Meanwhile she also studied part-time jazz/blues piano and composition and arranging at Goldsmiths College, while also writing ‘classical’ orientated music, and in 2005, one of her compositions for piano and soprano, ‘Liedje’ was nominated for the VSB poetry prize in Holland.
She produced another album ‘Something Fantastic’ in 2006, which has a very diverse sound, featuring very mellow and ‘sound-scape’ or rap-inspired tracks. Again sampled voices of some of her other heroes appear; Jimmi Hendrikx, Kate Bush and Bessie Smith.
She recently completed an honours degree in music at the City University in London, for which she was awarded a bursary in 2006.
Next to her music, she makes ‘surreal and trippy’ collages and collage/paintings and designs the covers of her albums, except the first one, which was designed by graphic designer Oscar Luyer.
Besides trying to write ‘contemporary’ music she continues with her home-grown alchemy and keeps on producing and writing tracks.
She performs live with voice and synth/piano and/or laptop/samples, and occasional guest musicians or spoken word performers, or could be found improvising somewhere around London town…
Check www.myspace.com/pacwomanwizza for gig dates…
Check www.cdbaby.com to buy tracks or albums or click on the I-tunes link to go to the store…
‘Not for conformists!’
Singer/pianist/producer Saskia Doornbos – her last name meaning ‘Thorn forest’ in Dutch!- (aka Pacwoman) was born in a small village in Holland in 1973. Her first musical memory was singing in church and threats of Calvinist music teachers. Later her parents bought her a piano, an instrument she still plays and adores.
She started singing and writing songs/poetry in pop and jazz bands in Amsterdam, toured with a puppet theatre and began experimenting with computer music. While studying music-technology she performed in experimental performances, wrote serial music for solo piano, made ‘sound-scape’ music, like, for example, the ‘The Joy of Hate’, for voice, electronics and church bells, which was reviewed in the Dutch press in 1999.
She toured with Palinckxs, an experimental rock/jazz band, with a live drum 'n bass act with singer Mola Sylla and her own band Wizza. In 1998 her song ‘Soulfood’, from her first acoustic mini album ‘Soundproof’ was nominated for a jazz/composition in Holland.
She recorded various demos in her home studio: the compilation album ‘Best of Wizza’ and ‘Timbuktu’ in 2000’. The latter is an acoustic album, recorded in a studio. Her vocals have also been used for ballet and TV, in collaboration with Han Otten from ‘Sound palette’.
Since 2000 she is based in London and has, besides singing jazz-standards and originals, produced the trip-hop inspired album ‘Cry for the Moon’ in 2002, of which the title track appeared on a compilation cd in Holland.
Her next cd, ‘Souvenirs’ 2003, with computer beats, vocals, saxophone, trumpet and piano is still influenced by hip hop, but more jazzy and up-tempo, and features the amazing trumpet player/bandleader Kevin G. Davy on two of the tracks.
The album ‘It's you’ produced in 2004 is the first one under the name Pacwoman. It is an up-tempo but mellow album, inspired by funk & jazz, with the brilliant guitarist Chris Letcher playing on the title track. Samples of the (spoken) voices of some of her heroes; Nina Simone, Bootsy Collins and Theolonious Monk, contribute to a unique sound.
Meanwhile she also studied part-time jazz/blues piano and composition and arranging at Goldsmiths College, while also writing ‘classical’ orientated music, and in 2005, one of her compositions for piano and soprano, ‘Liedje’ was nominated for the VSB poetry prize in Holland.
She produced another album ‘Something Fantastic’ in 2006, which has a very diverse sound, featuring very mellow and ‘sound-scape’ or rap-inspired tracks. Again sampled voices of some of her other heroes appear; Jimmi Hendrikx, Kate Bush and Bessie Smith.
She recently completed an honours degree in music at the City University in London, for which she was awarded a bursary in 2006.
Next to her music, she makes ‘surreal and trippy’ collages and collage/paintings and designs the covers of her albums, except the first one, which was designed by graphic designer Oscar Luyer.
Besides trying to write ‘contemporary’ music she continues with her home-grown alchemy and keeps on producing and writing tracks.
She performs live with voice and synth/piano and/or laptop/samples, and occasional guest musicians or spoken word performers, or could be found improvising somewhere around London town…
Check www.myspace.com/pacwomanwizza for gig dates…
Check www.cdbaby.com to buy tracks or albums or click on the I-tunes link to go to the store…
‘Not for conformists!’
