Ekseption

During an eight-year run, Ekseption came nearer than any continental European ensemble to eclipsing the impact of foundational classical-rock acts such as the Nice while matching the earliest achievements of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Within Holland the ensemble placed singles drawn from classical sources on the charts and issued well-received concept albums, standing alongside Focus as the leading progressive-rock outfit in the Dutch-speaking sphere. Their history actually reaches back to 1958 and a Haarlem-based unit called the Jokers, assembled by Hans Alta on bass, Tim Griek on drums, Rein van den Broek on trumpet, and Huib van Kampen on guitar and saxophone, whose repertoire centered on American rock-and-roll covers. In 1966 the group adopted the name the Incrowd, blending rock-and-roll with R&B under a pronounced jazz influence; membership shifted when Rob Kruisman entered as vocalist doubling on guitar, flute, and saxophone, yet the decisive development occurred after they shared a bill with the Occasional Swing Combo. Rick van der Broek was struck by the keyboard work of that combo’s pianist, conservatory-trained Rick van der Linden, who also composed, and after an informal jam session van der Broek recruited him.

Following a year as the Incrowd the band learned that another Dutch act held prior rights to the name and therefore adopted Ekseption instead. Additional changes ensued when Tim Griek, later producer of Brainbox’s self-titled debut album, and original Jokers founder Hans Alta departed, replaced respectively by drummer Peter de Leeuwe and bassist Cor Dekker. The decisive 1968 event, however, was Ekseption’s first-prize victory in a music competition with three jazz-rooted pieces, two drawn from Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey plus a reading of Aram Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance,” a piece already adapted by Woody Herman in the 1940s and by Love Sculpture in the mid-1960s. One prize element was a Philips Records contract, which the group used to cut a single of rock arrangements of two Bix Beiderbecke compositions. Philips deemed the single outdated, prompting Rick van der Linden, who had witnessed the Nice featuring Keith Emerson in Rotterdam and been galvanized by their fusion of hard rock and classical music, to propose a single coupling “The Fifth,” taken from the opening movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, with their existing “Sabre Dance.” The members treated the suggestion lightly until the record appeared in March 1969; initial sales were modest until a radio station, aided by the wife of producer Tony Vos, began airing it, after which the single became a Dutch hit and achieved success across much of Europe.

Two follow-up singles in the same vein, “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Air” derived from Bach, likewise charted. Paradoxically, Ekseption outsold the Nice on home soil while the English group never progressed beyond cult status. These hits, together with a debut album that incorporated added jazz elements and earned gold certifications in several territories, precipitated a leadership transition that installed Rick van der Linden as frontman. Further turnover followed as Huib van Kampen withdrew from performance and Peter de Leeuwe exited temporarily; amid the flux the band recorded its second album, the concept work Beggar Julia’s Time Trip. Vocalists Michel van Dijk, later of Brainbox, and Steve Allet passed through briefly, yet the core identity remained instrumental. By the early 1970s van der Linden’s original organ was supplemented by synthesizers, Mellotrons, and the expanding palette of electric keyboards that defined their sound. In 1972 the fifth album, Ekseption 5, became their sole American release; widely regarded as their strongest, it included an expanded, jazz-inflected reworking of the Nice’s “For Example.” Although the LP reached only a limited audience, those who heard it were impressed, and continued work at that level could have secured international standing.

That album and its supporting tour nevertheless proved the artistic summit. In 1973 saxophonist Dick Remelink and drummer de Leeuwe departed, succeeded by Jan Vennik and Pieter Voogt. Momentum waned and subsequent releases underperformed commercially. Van der Linden, by then a domestic star, left in 1974 for a solo career, after which Hans Jansen joined on keyboards and steered the group toward a heavier jazz emphasis. The shift cost them their remaining audience, and following Mindmirror in 1976 the band dissolved. Van den Broek, Vennik, and Jansen subsequently formed the jazz-rock fusion outfit Spin, which issued two mid-1970s albums. By decade’s end Ekseption reconvened for Ekseption ’78. In 1980 Rein van den Broek and Rick van der Linden, who had earlier formed Trace with Focus drummer Pierre van der Linden (no relation) and released two albums, the second featuring Catalin Tircolea, recorded together as the duo Cum Laude, reviving a classical-rock approach reminiscent of their prior band. A final iteration, Ekseption ’89, appeared before the group disbanded permanently. Their catalog began appearing on CD during the 1990s.