Biography

Tonga Tonga

Paul Crezee is turning a nightmare into a dream, bringing it to life in secret together with the people from Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest.

Sometimes life has its surprises. Dutch Guitar player Paul Crezee (known for the British/Dutch band Dilemma) experienced a burnout during the pandemic and at the time it felt like everything around him fell into pieces. His only solid ground in this moment is his music, which was resonated by one of his favourite artists. Together they have made a stunning instrumental album entitled Tonga Tonga.

Windless Storm

It is 1971 and a close friend of Paul’s is about to set out on a sea voyage on the Pacific as an unexperienced young man. What they experience has a lasting impression on the young Paul. The experiences of this voyage have never left him and even 50 years after the remarkable journey, it has surprisingly come to be the metaphor for the last three years of his life. The crossing started in Panama. A stranger asked Paul’s friend to join him on a sailing boat of just 10m long. A journey lasting 100 days without the help of something like a GPS. In fact, the sun was the only constant factor they could rely on to navigate, if the sun was visible at all.

On a cloudy day they hoped their intuition was good enough with nothing but water around them. Paul had a somewhat equal experience about two years ago, after two decades of hard work in a tough and responsible job, leaving little room for his own music. This was when he experienced a burnout. Another reason was that Paul and his fellow band members had had the opportunity to join the tour of the band Flying Colours of the drummer of Dream Theatre, Mike Portnoy. Yet the dream of his band Dilemma ended suddenly because of the world tour of festivals that was cancelled. Next to that disappointment all the airplanes from Paul’s employer were grounded (Paul is Engineering Manager for Lufthansa at Schiphol airport), causing another blow. Paul experienced a high level of stress in his life at that point and he felt just like his friend during his journey, where a windless storm suddenly appeared with overwhelming waves twice the height of the mast, caused by a storm thousands of miles away, creating a desperate situation. Adrift due to the lack of wind and the gigantic waves that seemed wanting to consume the ship, the boat was lifted with impressive force and rushed down again into the through. Suddenly, In the middle of it all, a huge creature was staring at them out of the wall of the wave, a whale so close and peaceful, it looked them in the eyes as if it wanted to calm them with the words – don’t worry, it will be OK. They both had to cry due to the indescribable beauty and at the same time intensity of the moment. Hope was back. This experience mirrors Paul’s experience, who was adrift, too, during the windless storm of the burnout, but suddenly rediscovered his acoustic guitar and started to get hope while playing. It was unexpected that this album appears and it is of an inexpressible beauty and at the same time intensity of that moment.

The waves disappeared, they got the wind in their sails again and eventually they reached Sydney at the other side of the globe, in a different world. Paul’s journey brought him to a different world as well. During the time of the pandemic he learned to let go and though this was not easy, he now accepts the brokenness in his life and devotes his life to his music now, which is a daily inspiration for him.

Snarky Puppy

During the time of the burnout, Paul wrote enough tracks to complete an album and it was time to form the tracks into album songs, not knowing that he had another very special journey ahead. Years ago Paul met Justin Stanton, one of the thriving creative forces of Snarky Puppy. The compositions that Paul made got Justin’s attention and he was really into it to record and produce them together with other members of Snarky Puppy.
During the pandemic several members of the band were stranded in southern Europe, and in secret Paul went to Spain on January 13th 2021, making his dream alive and recording a solo album with Snarky Puppy members.
Justin and the others were very enthusiastic about Paul’s tracks and in ten days they recorded the album in the new studio Estudi Vint of Michael League (bass player and band leader of Snarky Puppy) in Barcelona. The enthusiasm was surely not a whim as plans have been made for a 2nd album soon.

Coincidence? Destined to be? The house in Spain where Paul stayed during the ten days’ recording session belonged to someone from the management of the Metropole Orkest. This fact made for another highlight on top of the already beautiful journey. Arrangements were made by Justin Stanton and while listening to the songs Nineteen Seventy-One and Set Sail, one can hear the rich and unique sound of the Metropole Orkest, that won a Grammy with Snarky Puppy for the album Sylva.

In the meantime, the album is mixed by Nic Hard and mastered by Dave McNair and its beautiful artwork is created by the French artist Anne Mérat, with an illustration of the episode of the journey. The album feels as if it is the soundtrack made for the very special artwork and is full of lively and very richly arranged tracks.

The creativity of Paul’s music reminds one of Pat Metheny’s music, the style of guitar playing refers to Eric Clapton’s style, with a subtle reference to the roots of Mark Knopfler. Nevertheless, Paul created his own typical sound during the decades of studying and playing the guitar with his typical right hand finger style of playing.

Together with Snarky Puppy’s input and of course the Metropole Orkest, this craftmanship ensures a blend of songs that are comforting and at the same time give hope. New aspects appear again and again while listening to the full and richly arranged tracks.

Paul handed over his management duties for his employer Lufthansa to a colleague, and works parttime, to be able to concentrate more and more on playing, performing and creating his own music. The preparation for a tour is ongoing and Paul cannot wait to share his music with the rest of the world.