Herman Van Den Berg - Brel Laat My By Jou Bly (CD)

About three years after launching the CD, Brel in Afrikaans, followed by a very successful concert tour in South Africa and in Europe, Herman van den Berg is back with a second CD, Brel- Laat my by jou bly(Let me stay with you), which does homage to the master of French chansons.

Herman says: The scope of the first CD was more limited and the songs focussed on the milestones marking Brels career. In this second album more effort went into the musical arrangements and more of my personal favourites were included. Some of these songs comment bitingly on social affairs and others are heartrenderingly beautiful. When I heard these songs, I thought it would be a shame not to record them in Afrikaans. My decision to work with strings for this CD supplied a new dimension from the beginning. It even influenced the selection of songs. The resulting arrangements are more complex and nuanced.

Herman managed the singing, guitars, arrangements and mixing. Matthys Maree was the pianist for all songs except Die wanhopiges (The desperate ones) where Saranti Rheeders played the keys. The accordionist was Sergio Zampolli. The rest of the orchestra was composed of experienced musicians: David Klassen (drums and percussion), Theo Klassen(bass guitar) and Jaconelle Mouton (organ).