Oompah – foot-tapping sounds to get the happy juice flowing

“Why Oompah music?” I ask Jeff Cole, leader of the Velvet Sounds Oompah band.

Of course, posing this question to a trumpeter may sound a bit awkward. But, keep reading… There is more to Jeff than Oompah and there is more to the Velvet Sounds Oompah band than meets the eye, or should I say ear.

“Because the music is so happy, and everyone who hears it finds it happy,” Jeff answers. Of course, Afrikaans people find the music attractive because so much of what became Afrikaans folk songs are actually German, or then, Alpine folk music.

The definition of Oompah is the rhythmical sound of a deep bass instrument in combination with the other instruments or registers in a band. And Velvet Sounds are led by Jeff’s trumpet, augmented by the trombone of Rainer von Schlicten, guitar and sometimes concertina of Wouter Pretorius, and in some settings Elsa Coetzer’s saxophone and keys.

The band is well known for its “prosits” at the annual Oktoberfest at the German School where they regularly appear on the main stage.

Oompah is also synonymous with the festival. No matter where they play or what the setting is, it turns into a rip-roaring festival with the band members walking among the audience and engaging them in tapping of beer mugs… to get the juices going. And all this while the playing never stops.

Jeff is a master muso. He has been bandmaster of the SAPS marching band, the Namibia Army band, Menlo Park High School, the JMPD band, and many others. At one time he was the only person in South Africa that could train a marching band for ceremonial marching displays.

“The army did not like it so much, they called it ‘dancing on parade’… but many could see the value of this,” he laughed.

Of course, this is about much more than music. It involves band members marching at pace, moving and doing set moves while playing the instruments.

Jeff grew up in Pretoria and is well-known as a music teacher, too. He has taught at Pro Arte, Pretoria Boys High, St Albans and, of course at, the German School. He is also a music examiner. He has personally performed in more than 60 operas!

He explains about Velvet Sounds. “We have more than German oompah on our repertoire list. The band has eight different sounds, from Spanish (olé!) to the traditional big band swing sounds” which Jeff describes as his first love.

“Our musicians are all professionals – and can adapt easily to play these different genres. Personally, I wish I could bring back the James Last big band sound. It encompasses so much that I love in music: the brass sounds, the bigger bands with saxes, trumpets, trombone and rhythm.”

Yet what Velvet Sounds can do fits comfortably with what one would call a “bigger” sound than the run-of-the-mill pub band. Their music gets the blood pumping and the feet tapping. They bring the festival along with their instruments.

All the band members are Pretoria-based. Visit their Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/OompahVelvetSounds

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