Benjamin Herman (alto saxophone, C-melody saxophone, flute) began playing s… Read Full Bio ↴Benjamin Herman (alto saxophone, C-melody saxophone, flute) began playing saxophone at the age of twelve, and was soon active on the professional club circuit. By the time he received the Wessel Ilcken Prize at 21, he had already performed all over the world.
In 1991, the year he graduated with honours at Hilversum Conservatory, Herman was the only European selected for the Thelonious Monk Competition. Other candidates included Joshua Redman, Chris Potter and Eric Alexander.
Back from studying with Dick Oatts at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, Benjamin Herman soon began initiating his own projects, including the pioneering New Cool Collective ensemble.
As one of Holland’s most productive and prominent jazz musicians, Benjamin Herman is a much sought-after soloist. He has played and recorded with Rein de Graaf, Fra Fra Big Band, Michiel Borstlap, Candy Dulfer, Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, Misha Mengelberg, Paul Weller and Georgie Fame.He has also made a name as a composer at home and abroad.
Herman plays numerous concerts each year with New Cool Collective and his quartet (Benjamin Herman: alto sax, Jesse van Ruller: guitar, Carlo de Wijs: Hammond organ, Martijn Vink: drums) strongly inspired by opular dance-floor jazz. New Cool Collective and the New Cool Collective Big Band often perform at international pop venues and festivals, resulting in a following far beyond the normal jazz concert crowd.

Benjamin Herman is well known in the Netherlands as one of the country’s most original and versatile jazz musicians. Drawing on influences from outside the jazz scene he pays little heed to the unwritten laws of jazz, as a résumé of the last couple of years illustrates:
In 2004/2005 Herman released a 45 rpm single Haze/Skunkaholic (with Ulco Bed, Wiboud Burkens, Jeroen Vierdag, Martijn Vink, Git Hyper) and a twelve inch vinyl Durban Poison, both distributed worldwide through the new Amsterdam underground label Rush Hour.
In 2005 Herman and the New Cool Collective produced their fifth album Trippin’ with Afro Beat founder, Nigerian drummer Tony Allen. Meanwhile, the band confirmed its trail-blazing status by bringing their jazz repertoire to several major European rock festivals including Denmark’s Roskilde - one of Europe’s best attended festivals, Sziget in Hungary and Dutch pop festival Lowlands.

That same year Herman released a critically acclaimed Impro-Surf -Cocktail-Rock-Jazz album The Itch featuring legendary Dutch drummer Han Bennink alongside New Cool Collective guitarist Anton Goudsmit and ICP bassist Ernst Glerum.

Benjamin Herman also recorded two albums in 2005 as a guest soloist with New Wave phenomenon and 2006 UK Brit Award winner Paul Weller, also joining him for three European tours.

Meanwhile, Herman won a (jazz) Edison in 2005 for his 2004 album Heterogeneity, a collaboration with Flemish trumpeter Bert Joris and ICP founder Misha Mengelberg.
And in 2005 Benjamin Herman debuted as (guest) programmer of the Festival Jazz International Rotterdam.

On 26 April 2006, Benjamin Herman received the VPRO/Boy Edgar Prize 2006, the premier Dutch award in the field of jazz and improvised music.

In autumn 2006 Herman released the beautiful album ‘the London Sessions’ together with 80years old legendary British jazz pianist Stan Tracey and his trio, featuring Dutch trombone player Bart van Lier.

In 2007 Herman is touring Dutch and European stages with The Itch, as well as with New Cool Collective and the New Cool Collective Big Band.

A Slow Hot Wind
Benjamin Herman Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Her gaze
Swept over me now
A slow hot wind

Some days
It's too warm to fight
A slow hot wind

There in the shade
Like a cool drink waiting
She sat with slow fire in her eyes
Just waiting

Some days
It's too warm to fight
A slow hot wind

A slow hot wind
A slow hot slow hot wind

There in the shade
Like a cool drink waiting
She sat with slow fire in her eyes
Just waiting

Some days
It's too warm to fight
A slow hot wind

A slow hot wind
A slow hot wind

A slow hot
Wind

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Benjamin Herman's "A Slow Hot Wind" are atmospheric, descriptive and poetic in nature. The first stanza describes how a woman's gaze swept over the singer with the force of a slow hot wind. This image is used to convey both the warmth of the woman's attention and also the sensual impact it has on the singer. The second stanza describes how some days are too warm to fight, which may be a reference to the heat of the sun or the intensity of emotions between the two people. The third stanza repeats the image of the woman in the shade with slow fire in her eyes, emphasising her seductive power.

The song is notable for its use of imagery, which paints a picture of a hot and languid day, where emotions and the heat are inextricably linked. The repeated phrase "a slow hot wind" adds to the sense of languor and tension that is at the heart of the song. The lyrics are also notable for their simplicity and repetition, which creates a sense of the singer being caught in a cycle of intense attraction and desire.

Overall, "A Slow Hot Wind" is a song that captures the sensuality and intensity of a hot summer day, using poetic and evocative lyrics that convey the singer's feelings of desire and longing.

Line by Line Meaning

Her gaze
The way she looked at me

Swept over me now
Took over my attention completely

A slow hot wind
A weather condition where things are slow and uncomfortable

Some days
On certain occasions

It's too warm to fight
The oppressiveness of the weather makes it difficult to get anything done

There in the shade
She was in a cool area, protected from the sun

Like a cool drink waiting
Promising relief from the heat

She sat with slow fire in her eyes
She had an intensity that simmered slowly beneath the surface of her gaze

Just waiting
Patiently anticipating something

A slow hot wind
A weather condition where things are slow and uncomfortable

A slow hot slow hot wind
Reinforcing the description of the weather and its effects