Sanem Kalfa Miraculous Layers

This Rotterdam-based collective, led by keyboardist Brenn Luiten, started with three members. Inspired by jazz from the UK, hiphop and electronic music, Luiten started to write sketches for his own compositions. Together with the band, he worked them out and the project grew bigger.

Amsterdam-based drummer Felix Schlarmann is deeply rooted in the Dutch jazz scene – Germany’s neighbouring country has been his home for almost twenty years now. There he plays with numerous formations, teaches at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and is a dedicated organiser and curator, among other things through his successful festival Jazzfest Amsterdam.

In a coincidental convergence of talent and cultural influences, a remarkable assemblage of virtuoso musicians hailing from Lithuania, Italy, the United States, and the Netherlands, converged in the vibrant city of Amsterdam back in 2017. This international collective, whose harmonious union transcends borders, proclaims their artistry to be nothing short of ’infectiously danceable’ and ‘highly energetic’.

Group of Friends plays music that represents the African diaspora in its totality, combining folklore with the spirit of collective improvisation. They like to change the center of their music, dividing all aspects of music amongst all members of the group: the foundation can be laid by the electronic wind instrument (EWI), percussion can play the melody.

How would ancient Pompeii and Rome have sounded? AVA Trio tried to reimagine this on their latest album Ash. Maqam melodies and meticulous trance-y grooves merge with these sounds from ancient history and form ‘Mediterranean Avant-garde’. In their previous work the trio merged North-African, Middle Eastern and South-European cultures in their sound.

An eclectic collection of folk/pop/singer songwriter songs, jazz standards, rap and their own material, brought together as one sound – their own sound: with this the trio of Peter Willems won the Maastricht Jazz Award in 2023, with Michal Niedbala on piano and Jakob Lingen on drums.

This trio plays with the traditional roles of the instruments: you will hear the melody played on the drums, with the sax in the accompanying role. The trio was founded by Matthias van den Brande in 2021, after having shared many meaningful moments on and off stage over the years in different projects.

Piero Bianculli, Italian singer and Hammond organ player, plays his own exciting, jazzy and funky work with his new band Organix. After two decades of giving energetic performances, he and his friends and band members Thijmen Molema, Jens Dreijer and Simone Cesarini take the step to record their own album in the studio of Sven Figee.

A unique combination: baroque instruments and modern improvisation. Wake The Dead creates a delicate musical world, full of hypnotic ambient textures, glitchy electronics and fragmented melodies, joined by the warm sound of the old instruments like the traverso flute and the viola da gamba.

Two innovative female saxophonists join each other in Alto For Two: the Dutch Kika Sprangers and Irene Reig from Barcelona. Both women bring their compositions to this Dutch-Catalan co-production. In this way, their different artistic vision offer a varied sound palette, played at InJazz 2023 by a quintet with drums, double bass and keys.

Dutch-Turkish-Kurdish Meral Polat is an actress and theatre maker but enters the stage of inJazz 2023 as a singer-songwriter. Meral Polat Trio takes its audience on a journey through contemporary Anatolian folk- and mountain songs with raw blues and Kurdish Soul.

Haunting melodies and powerful rhythms in a mix of jazz, pop, folklore and improvised music: that sums up the style of Sanem Kalfa’s band Miraculous Layers. The absence of a bass instrument creates a particular music environment. Every performance is different because of the experience of the improvisers, who choose a different take on the songs and written melodies every time they perform.

Winner Best Composition at Dutch Jazz Competition. Saxophonist Loek van den Berg from Rotterdam is a storyteller. He won the prize for Best Composition at the Dutch Jazz Competition 2022 with his emotionally moving ‘Wayfarer’, written for his Loek van den Berg Quintet.

The music of Raquel Kurpershoek is a fusion of different styles and influences. Kurpershoek, born in Amsterdam and raised partly in Spain, brings her expertise in Latin American music, while Alejandro Hurtado adds his flamenco guitar skills and classical influences. Danny Rombout, as a percussionist with Indian roots, brings Latin and Afro rhythms to the mix.

A band with a strong classical background, led by jazz pianist Miran Noh from South-Korea. When listening to NOHMI, it is the challenge to keep deciphering the strong motive from the beginning, during its development in the course of the composition into lots of polyphonic layers.

Award winning vocalist, vibraphonist, and composer Sanne Huijbregts is no stranger to inJazz. She has astounded audiences with her melodic, inventive, and sometimes downright quirky song structures. We are happy to have her present her brand-new quartet at inJazz 2022.

For those who follow what’s going on in jazz made in the Netherlands, this band has some familiar faces. Pietre (‘stones’ in Italian) is the brainchild of bassist Alessandro Fongaro, a quartet he brought together during the second lockdown, in 2021.

Artvark: a band with four saxophones and no boundaries in sight. It was alto player Rolf Delfos who came up with the idea in 2005: four completely different characters, in music and in life. Says tenorist Mete Erker: “Rolf knew all three of us, but the three of us did not know each other."

Nefertiti Quartet have been exploring improvisation for almost a decade. After meeting at the Conservatoire de Paris in 2012, the four members have been playing extensively while building a repertoire of original compositions.

Voice, alto sax, trumpet and double bass: an orchestration which offers various possibilities for sound and texture. Add to that the fact that Alistair Payne, Fuensanta Méndez and José Soares are friends who shared several larger projects, and you have the ingredients for a unique musical recipe.

Mozambique-born Ildo Nandja graduated in 2016 with a cum laude master’s degree from the Conservatorium Maastricht, where he also taught in 2019-2020. The Ildo Nandja Trio exists in two forms: as a piano trio and as a guitar trio. “I like the sound of both bands,” he says.

Saxophone and clarinet player Mo van der Does has become one of the Netherlands’ most wanted young jazz musicians, and he is no stranger to inJazz. In the edition of 2019, his quartet made an impression on stage in Rotterdam. The Motet was put together for Mo’s final exam at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the same year.

Keyboardist Matthijs Geerts has been one of the Netherlands go-to session players for a number of years now. You may have seen him perform with GreyHeads, Marutyri and DESH, and with his own group and the release of Lost In Reverse he steps proudly into the spotlights.

Guillermo Celano and Marcos Baggiani met in 2001 in Amsterdam. Immersed in the eclectic jazz/impro scene of the city, they have led several groups together. With Joachim Badenhorst they have been playing since 2013.

Are you ready for a potent mix of 80’s jazzfusion and modern alternative R&B and soul? With kotokid, bassist/producer Freek Mulder shows his fondness for analog synthesizers, sequencers and drumcomputers.

When asked to describe their music, this three-piece has a resolute answer ready: Dishwasher_ makes jazz for the non-jazzbelievers. Their aim? To scrub down all possible walls between genres to create a fresh smelling sound and style.

Trumpet and flugelhorn player Suzan Veneman has been performing in the clubs and the festivals of the Netherlands with a number of bands and orchestras over the last decade.

Full Sun has its roots in Amsterdam’s creative music community. The ensemble came to be in 2018, following a “jazz workshop” method where a growing pool of musicians emerged themselves in the sound-vision of Taubenfeld’s compositions.

Composer, vocalist and guitarist Marta Arpini is no stranger to inJazz. Her pocket orchestra was born in 2021 in the recording studio, as an extension of her long time semi-acoustic quintet. With that project, called Forest Light, she performed at inJazz 2020, “the live stream edition”.

Vernon Chatlein’s inJazz presence has evolved from the research project that he embarked upon while staying in Curaçao during the pandemic

You can call it chamber jazz, but the members of the North Sea String Quartet will be the last ones to try and limit their work by mere stylistic descriptions. As improvising string players active in the Dutch music scene, they are influenced by classical, world and folk music

In 2020 pianist, composer and producer Alexander van Popta debuted under his own name. His album Methods To Madness clearly features the influence of jazz and its improvisational character.

The music of Lucas Santana has that energetic hard bop vibe, but his Brazilian roots shine through on many levels. His 5tet is more than ready to set fire to the stages of venues and festivals in the Netherlands and beyond.

Mehmet Polat has established himself as a master of the oud, a short-necked, Middle-Eastern string instrument. Bearing resemblance to the lute, Mehmet has extended the instruments’ range with two extra bass strings.

This band consists of six musicians from Portugal, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands who share the desire to have a musical space where they could explore and create in their own way.

From the south of Spain to the streets of Rotterdam, Juanfer Marrero Group are mixing postrock with impro and basically anything that comes in their path.

A common interest in cutting edge music drew this quintet together, and Sam himself mentions influences like Radiohead, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, English folk, and 20th Century classical music.

With his ensemble OAK, Sjoerd steps into the spotlight as composer and band leader. Their sound contains influences from free improvisation, classical music (Bach to Ravel), minimalism and Scandinavian melodic jazz.

The Teis Semey Quintet reimagines contemporary jazz as a grounded, corporeal and alive experience. Teis describes his music as ‘representing the New Nordic in synergy with guitar-fueled contemporary indie-jazz’.

Speak with the winner of the Dutch Jazz Competition 2020, Aviv Noam Quartet about their compositions and they are likely to bring up terms like ‘humor’, ‘intimacy’ and ‘organized chaos’.

On their website, Doppler Trio describe their music as ‘atmospheric, narrative improvisations, combined with modern rhythmical songs’. Expect the unexpected with Doppler Trio!

In this quartet, guitarist Gijs Idema and vocalist Anna Serierse look for new ways of using the guitar and voice together. Seen from a more sound-based angle they thrive for a unique blend between the two instruments.

Before they became K.O.Brass, this quintet scorched the stages of the Netherlands’ largest venues and festivals as the brass section of the famed Kyteman Orchestra.

‘We play GarageJazz. It sounds like… Ploctones? Zappa? Tarantino? Some shady 70’s fusion band? Nirvana if they went to jazz school?’ That’s what you get when you ask the four guys from Kruidkoek about their music.

Described by their leader as an avant-garde jazz quartet, the Prashant Samlal Quartet reflects a mix of musical styles, comprising not just the modern jazz greats, but rock and classical music as well.

The music of this trio is an intense exploration of traditional songs from the Black Sea geographic region, with old ottoman melodies in an original contemporary language, with fresh nuances of electronics.

Composer and director Tijn Wybenga is no stranger to inJazz, for in our 2019 edition he spoke about his AM.OK project during our conference. Great to have him in our 2021 showcase selection with new music!

Vocals and bass: an exciting and intimate combination. The beauty of this jazz/ pop duo lies in its ‘symplesse’. Blue Sands shows that with just one voice and one bass you can create a strong basis for a song and draw the attention to the story. Their characteristic sound leaves space which could be filled, but doesn’t need to.

Contemporary jazz, fusion, world, classic music, programmatic, pop and folkloristic music – all combined together. Eran: “The soundtrack of my life, really. This music could be described as a melting pot of my life experiences.”

Fuensanta: “Voices, drums, horns and strings are like different organs in a breathing animal that invents cornfields, jungles, ruined statues, breakfast. Poetry is the silver guiding principle, improvisation and texture execute.”

Tight beats, melodic grooves, smooth rap flows and catchy vocals. Where the roads to jazz, soul, hiphop and funk cross is where you’ll find JOHN FROST. Add a touch of blues and rock and influences such as D’Angelo, J Dilla and The Roots to complete a total description of their sound.

Authentic music with undertones of serenity and melancholy, enriched by royal harmonies. Dutch saxophonist Kika Sprangers moves her audience with this characteristic sound and daring improvisations.

Her music is inspired by Bill Frisell, Elliott Smith and Nick Drave and the grace, gentleness and melancholy in their music. Italian singer Marta Arpini and her fellow musicians create enchanting jazz music. Marta: “Forest Light was born from the fusion between the suggestive atmosphere of the world of the songwriting and the intensive interplay characterising jazz.”

Rich in classical harmony, floating melodies and ripping guitar lines. With the Redbourg Group, bandleader Yuri Rhodenborgh connects his two passions: music and highlining. Redbourg Group makes music full of unexpected turns! This will bring you to to the heights Yuri finds himself at when practicing this sport.

Interplay, innovative and cinematic. Three words to describe SIMIO and the electronic modern jazz and improvised music by this young, Dutch group. With both electronic and acoustic sets, they create a unique and fresh vibe.

The Young-Woo Lee quartet brings together four musicians from Portugal, Korea and the Netherlands. Although they met at the jazz department of the Conservatory of Amsterdam, their background spans from classical music to gospel.

Contemporary chamber jazz noise! That’s Bonsai Panda. Jelle Roozenburg and Louk Boudesteijn started Bonsai Panda artistically. They both wrote lots and lots of compositions, rooted in jazz and influenced by blues music and big composers from the 20th century. For this adventure, they gathered David Kweksilber, Romain Bly and Jimmi Jo Hueting.

Dark and colourful. Intimate and extrovert. Fragile and energetic. An empty canvas ready to be filled with colours and shapes! This trio explores improvised music, traditional/ folk, modern/ contemporary jazz and rhythms from Brazil and Greece. Together they create a very personal sound with a strong emphasis on storytelling, musical interaction and free interpretation of fixed forms.

Life in all its brightness and darkness. That’s the inspiration for pianist Franz von Chossy and his trio. A unique sound, merging classical and jazz. Süddeutsche Zeitung (newspaper) wrote: “Franz von Chossy is dancing on the edges of stylistic perfection.”

Lighthearted (jazz-)music with a strong melodic character and well-balanced compositions. Dutch pianist and composer Jan Geijtenbeek finds inspiration in works by Amhad Jamal, as well as Mendelssohn or Bob Dylan. Jan: “I love all honest music.”

Melodic, colourful and energetic. Maripepa Contreras is one of the very few oboe jazz players in the world. The oboe is a type of double reed woodwind instrument.

The music of Mundus Quartet combines the heritage of timeless traditions stemming from the broad world of contemporary modal, Makam and Sufi music originated from the Silk Road.

SMANDEM. is a group with a mission: “For us, jazz is a mixture of styles and cultures. We share a love for today’s popular music and strive to create a sound that combines all of our influences into something relevant.”

A journey through some of Beethoven’s best-known sonatas. It’s spontaneous and it’s fresh. Spanish pianist Xavi Torres explores all possibilities with sound, improvisation, rhythms and new textures. The admiration of Beethoven’s work, the joy and all musical baggage of the three musicians come together in ‘A Kind of Beethoven’.