Vocalist Deborah J. Carter was born in the U.S.A. and grew up in Hawaii and Japan. She travels extensively performing in jazz festivals, jazz clubs, seminars, and radio and TV shows through Europe and Asia with her trio or as a guest with various formations from solo pianists to large orchestras.

Deborah is also currently the Professor of Jazz Vocals at the Musikene Music Conservatory in San Sebastian, Spain. This prestigious school, in the Basque region of Spain, was founded in 2001 by the Basque Government through the establishment of a private foundation

This vocalist / composer / arranger definitely brings her multi – cultural experiences into her music. “We are so privileged in this day and age to have an open door to other cultures and perspectives that enrich our own.” And she brings it to light through her style. Described by the Music Maker magazine as “absolutely top-class”, she is one of the most dynamic vocalists in the jazz scene.

Nathalie Schaap made a great impression on her final exam at the Conservatory.

Her virtuous combination of singing and playing the double bass did not stay unnoticed for long.

Nathalie won several prizes, during the Christina Jazz Concours, de ‘Vriendenprijs’ from Artez Conservatory, a finalist place at the Conservatory Talent Award during Jazz in Duketown.

Nathalie is actively working on her own projects, Cousin Hatfield, and the Medan Trio. Next to her own projects, she work(ed)s with Douwe Bob, Bertolf, Tangarine, and many more.

When the Beets name rings anywhere in the world, a jazz lover somewhere will stand up and listen. Tenor powerhouse Alexander Beets has garnered international acclaim with his explosive sound and undeniable swing over the last few decades, appearing in lineups with greats such as Igor Butman (RU), Deborah Brown (USA), Sylwester Ostrowski (PL) and Koh Mr Saxman (TH).}

Paying tribute to the legends that inspired him throughout the years, his latest release Big Sounds features original compositions as well as long-time favorites by Stanley Turrentine and Cole Porter, among others. Sporting a lineup of latest and greatest musicians, he is joined by Miles Davis Institute-acknowledged trumpeter Ellister van der Molen, Beets brother Marius on bass, no less than two Dutch drum prodigies in the form of Sven Rozier and Tim Hennekes and, finally, renowned jazz-meets-classical Sebastiaan van Bavel and Spanish powerhouse Miguel Rodriguez on piano.

Aside from his own quintet, Beets also works with Saskia Laroo International Band, New York Round Midnight Orchestra and the Sound of Siam Band. Citing Stanley Turrentine and Hank Mobley as two of his prime influences, Beets continues to charm audiences all over the world with a perfect blend of swing and ballads: a prime cocktail of contemporary tenor jazz.

Playing music became a pure necessity for Marius at the age of ten. At that time his musical career started with playing the bass in various local pop- and rock bands.

At home Marius came in touch with jazz music. His father had a big collection of the best jazz records and his younger brother Peter developed himself as a true jazz freak. Marius’ continued to explore these jazz influences and started studying double bass at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

From that moment on his career set off with great force. Marius became part of young jazz bands such as the Houdini’s, the Hoogendijk/Van den Dungen quintet and the Beets Brothers. With these bands Marius performed on the most important jazz venues in the Netherlands and toured in the United States of America, Australia, Thailand and Russia.

Beets struck the attention of, and got much loved by, established Dutch jazz artists such as Rita Reys, Rein de Graaff en Piet Noordijk. The strong beat and forward motion in his playing fits seamlessly with the sound of the esteemed older jazz generation.

In 1999 Marius gave a new boost to the Rein de Graaff trio and set for several European tours with jazz legends as Johhny Griffin, James Moody, Bud Shank, Gary Bartz and Ronnie Cuber.

Marius has an impressive discography with over a hundred recordings. Featured artists are a.o.: Herb Geller, Jeff Hamilton, Deborah Brown, Rita Reys, Trijntje Oosterhuis, Peter Beets, Houston Person, Ronnie Cuber and Dave Liebman.

Beets is a well know guest at large Dutch orchestras such as the Metropole Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Schoenberg Ensemble, Skymasters and the Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw.

Sebastiaan van Bavel is a pianist and composer combining the jazz tradition with elements from Indian and Western classical music. Although you will find his compositions to resemble a classical symphony more than a jazz standard, improvisation and swing always prevail in his music. Sebastiaan is in love with the piano trio format but is also praised when performing solo or as part of the piano duo with renowned jazz pianist Rob van Bavel (who just happens to be his dad). Sebastiaan likes to experiment with sound and timbre by occasionally expanding his trio with vocals, strings and horns. No matter the line-up, you will always hear Sebastiaans signature in his compositions and his imposing piano play. For his debut album As The Journey Begins, Sebastiaan is instantly awarded an Edison (Dutch Grammy) for Best Dutch Jazz Album of 2014. In 2016 he releases his trio’s second album Cosmic Dance as well as the debut of the piano duo with Rob van Bavel: The Edison Duo.

Mitchell Damen was born in Terheijden in 1992. He started playing drums from the age of seven. During his school days he was very active in the local music scene and played with Harmonie Terheijden and big band Djazzkefet. After secondary school he was accepted at the Conservatory of Tilburg (Fontys School of the Arts) where he was taught by Hans van Oosterhout and Frans van Grinsven. After studying for two years in Tilburg, he transferred to the Conservatory of Rotterdam (Codarts) where he was taught by Hans van Oosterhout, Joost Patôcka and Mark Schilders.

During his studies he became an active player in the Dutch jazz scene and in his third year Mitchell also co-organized jazz sessions in ‘Stadsbrasserie Rotterdam’. He opened the sessions here with Peter Beets, Benjamin Herman, Rembrandt Frerichs, Ben van den Dungen, Joe Cohn (NYC), Rob van Bavel, Maarten Hoogenhuis, Grant Steward (NYC), Martijn van Iterson, Rolf Delfos, Sjoerd Dijkhuizen. , Angelo Verploegen, Jasper Blom, Phillip Harper (NYC), Vincent Koning, Bart van Lier, Marius Beets, Ilja Reijngoud, Rik van den Bergh, Efraim Trujillo, David Rockefeller, Teus Nobel, Marco Kegel, John Marshal (DE), Bob Wijnen, Ben van Gelder, Frits Landesbergen, Paul van der Feen, Ruud Breuls and many others.

As a graduation project, Mitchell started a quintet together with bassist Tomek van Leeuwen: The King Swings, now one of his regular bands. In addition to The King Swings, Mitchell plays in many other permanent as well as individual projects.

Ben has been performing as a jazz musician since 1983, but his professional career took off two years later, when he won the prestigious NOS Jazz award 1985. Ben has performed with numerous ensembles and over the years he did around 6000 concerts in about 70 countries. To name some of the bands: Ben van den Dungen/ Jarmo Hoogendijk 5 tet, Nueva Manteca, Tango Extremo, New York Round Midnight Orchestra.

These days Ben is playing with his own 4 tet. Art Blakey once said that jazz has to be ‘danceable and have the blues’. This could be in many ways Ben van den Dungen’s general musical motto. This quartet contains a special combination of musical personalities. Nothing pretentious, just swinging, right up to date and with a happy feel. These characteristics make this band 100% pure jazz.

Born in Madrid in October 15th 1983, he discovers the piano at the age of six and studies in an autodidactic way for a few years. After a fleeting classical studies at the “Joaquin Turina” Conservatory in Madrid he moves to Holland in 2005 to study Jazz Piano.

FORMATION

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In June 2009 he graduates “Cum Laude” at the Rotterdam Conservatorium (Codarts) and obtains the Bachelor Degree of Jazz Piano.

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In 2010 he got the most prestigious scholarship in The Netherlands (“Huygens Program” by Nuffic). In January 2011 he moves to New York in order to continue his jazz development and knowledge. Over there he studied with Aaron Goldberg, Dave Kikoski, Bruce Barth, Kenny Werner, Fred Hersch and Sophia Rossoff.

In May 2011 he graduates and receives the Jazz Piano Master Degree at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

EXPERIENCE

Currently he is actively working in the dutch jazz scene as a leader of his own band and his own trio, being selected for the Young VIP’s Tour in 2014. Besides, he’s part of many other bands highlighting the Ben Van Den Dungen Quartet, the Benjamin Herman Quartet, the Maarten Hogenhuis Quartet and the successful musical production “New York Round Midnight”.

As a guest pianist he’s been invited to play with the JOC (Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw), Powerhouse Big Band with Marius Beets, Bob Sands Big Band, Alain Pérez Latin-jazz Band, BvR Flamenco Big Band (Flamenco Biennale 2015), etc.

As a side-man he has worked with the majority of the most well-known musicians from Holland as Ferdinand Povel, Ruud Jacobs, Eric Ineke, Sjoerd Dijkhuizen, Simon Rigter, John Ruocco, Jasper Blom, Martijn van Iterson, Martijn Vink, Joost van Schaik, etc…, as well as from the USA, like Branford Marsalis, Donald Harrison, the quintet of Willie Jones III, Peter Bernstein, Terell Stafford or Deborah Brown.

He has performed in the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2009 (Codarts Big Band conducted by Maria Schneider), 2012 (Benjamin Herman Quartet) and 2014 (Ben van den Dungen Quartet).

On tour, he has traveled with different bands all over Europe, Russia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and South America.

As a docent, he is a piano teacher at the Rotterdam Conservatory (Codarts) since September 2016.  Since 2014 he takes part every year of the Jazz Summer School in Korea and Indonesia, teaching piano, combos and giving master-classes.

Paul van Kessel started singing at the age of eight in the church choir of Grevenbicht, a small village in the south of the Netherlands. At the age of 17, he began singing with a funk band in the nearby city of Sittard. The band continued playing in clubs, at festivals and musical venues for the next seven years, primarily in the southern province of Limburg. 

Around the age of 20, Paul enrolled to study jazz at the Conservatory of Maastricht and Amsterdam. In 2001 he moved to Amsterdam, where he still lives today. Paul’s voice is ideally suited to both small jazz ensembles and large arranged, orchestrated music. He has made guest appearances with the Royal Orchestra of the Dutch Air Force, The New Cool Collective Big Band, the Metropole Orchestra, the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and the Symphonic Orchestra of the Hessischer Rundfunk. Paul’s music receives wide recognition through jazz radio broadcasts like Radio6, NPO Radio2 Soul & Jazz and Sublime FM, where he has been a regular guest for a number of years. He has been nominated several times for a Radio6 Award for Best Male Vocalist, Best Single and Best Jazz Talent.