The Altered Destiny: a jazz revolution!
Five years ago I stood in front of one of the stages at the Jazz Festival Delft. There was this small guy behind a set of keyboards making faces and moves as he went into an intelligent combination form of soul, rock and jazz. In awe I watched and listened to him and all I could think was: this guy is too big for the stage! Despite some more performances after the festival it got quite around the man which I always regarded as a sad thing. I didn’t had any idea where he was or what he was doing.
Photos: Eric van Nieuwland
Until three weeks ago, again at the Jazz Festival Delft, where at the last moment in the program schedule I noticed a group under the name of The Altered Destiny which featured his name: Andrew Apollos. I took a fast walk to the stage as he was already performing and barely couldn’t believe my eyes: the New Yorker, living and working in The Hague, was on the stage behind a digital Yamaha piano, backed by bassist Andor Horváth and drummer Anthony Davis running through a more neo-jazzy approach compared to five years ago. Different but extremely addictive and convincing reminding a bit of the Robert Glasper Experiment.
Last Friday September 6th I had the privilege with a handful of music friends to attend a private session by the Altered Destiny in their recording and rehearsal hub in The Hague. In a cosy setting with dimmed lights Apollos accompanied by Davis and Horváth performed a blazing set of original neo-jazz electro-acoustic orientated songs they’re working on with an incredible dedication and passion, improvisations, addictive rhythms and dreamy vocals moving into a near spiritual dimension. A breathtaking trio of musicians showing off amazing skills on their instruments and sharing their souls with the audience. Included was an astonishing reformed Steppin’ Out by Joe Jackson that even surpassed the awesome interpretation by Kurt Elling on his 2011 release The Gate.
There is no doubt for me The Altered Destiny will grow into a hot jazz act with the potential to perform at the biggest spots like BIRD in Rotterdam, North Sea Jazz Club in Amsterdam or even the North Sea Jazz Festival. You keep track of that groups name The Altered Destiny and its band leader Andrew Apollos. This is gonna be big. A jazz revolution. Watch my words!