One of the toughest things we’ve ever done with our horn section. A 3-hours soul-show with many medleys, specials, and up-tempo stuff, recorded live at the Ziggo dome. A true musical marathon, (but many of us know each other for more than 20 years already, so it’s more like a musical reunion with lots of guests)… But preparing the many horn arrangements in between the regular gigs and recordings for the show was probably even a bigger challenge. One of the first singles for the Ladies was called “Up till now”. I wrote the whole arrangement in the car on our way home after a gig while Louk was driving, and we recorded it the next morning.
I was always impressed by romantic arrangers stories like this and I was hoping to ever experience a similar situation, but when it actually happened I was too exhausted to actually enjoy any of it. What I learned from it is: Having more time doesn’t necessarily mean a better arrangement, (although I enjoy the luxury of it).