Today it's been a year since my friend Ernst Kamphuis, a.k.a. Lieutenant Ernesto,
left this world.
I've been listening to piles of cassette tapes recorded while jamming with him and other friends over the years and I keep digging up little forgotten treasures every now and then.
People who know him also know that he was a man of moments, and never sang a song the same way
even twice. Every night was different, and in rehearsal or a studio, every take could have that little something that never was repeated or a different approach to the things that he DID repeat, his 'usuals' were never 'as usual' shall we say?
Some songs on some nights became favorites that I listened to many times, but every once in a while, and especially now he's gone, I turn to the pile and play a different version or discover a forgotten 'one time only' pearl.
This little clip contains two examples: First rehearsing a different vibe to a show-stopper song we played many times:, " I put a spell on you", by Screaming Jay Hawkins,
( I couldn't resist doing a little mock-"anthology" and overdubbed some maracas and kick drum in a Bo Diddley/Jerome Green/Tom Waits style, as I think Ernst would have loved),
I think this version is also a fitting tribute to Willy DeVille, one of Ernst's voodoo hoodoo hero's, who we lost ,just recently, too. (Hope somebody over there will listen to that man's pile of tapes, by the way!)

The second part is a fragment of a long improvisation on a unfinished instrumental tune on the same rehearsal tape. As usual he builds a mood with lines from Bob, Tom or whoever, and possibly yours and mine too. Some times the lines would come up in a different song, other times the song would have different words five minutes later.
We never played this tune again since, it never developed into a song or even part of a song.
I'm glad the tape was running , though.

The video is a collage of local ' Ernesto Couleure Locale', featuring a.o.Ernst's long time piano buddy Peter Paauw & some artwork for funny band posters done years ago by me and some works of Ernst himself ,also features the great Trumpet Photo by the great Mark Lamers, and it ends in style with pictures of Ernst oldest son Martijn doing well , not afraid to jam with the great on a party after a gig with Nederland Blazers Ensemble in the Rotterdam Doelen

For more Ernst : check out
the Lt.ErnestoTributhology Playlist on my channel here on YT (less info)