Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw

The members of The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw (JOC) are the current most talented jazz musicians in The Netherlands. The orchestra performs a minimum of 35 times a year. Very often the orchestra plays compositions and arrangements written by both its musicians and/or the  conductor. All pieces are arranged especially for the orchestra. The bigband  performs regularly with guest jazz artists of the highest standards such as Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Lew Tabackin, James Carter, Richard Galliano, Deborah Brown, Madeline Bell, George Duke, Ellen ten Damme, Benny Golson, Trijntje Oosterhuis, Lee Konitz, Roy Hargrove, Dennis Mackrel, Toots Thielemans, Ack van Rooyen, Rita Reys, Bert Joris, Mathilde Santing, Miranda van Kralingen, Joe Lovano, Joe Henderson, Han Bennink, Johnny Griffin, Misha Mengelberg and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

History
The orchestra was founded in 1996 as the New Concert Big Band. In 1999 the
band swiftly moved to centre stage under an arrangement with Amsterdam’s prestigious Concertgebouw to become The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. Currently theJOC has more than 35 000 visitors a year throughout The Netherlands, Europe and Japan.

Co-productions
The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw initiates and participates often in extraordinary projects with other ensembles and art forms. For instance, when
the motion picture “Ray” hit the screens, the bigband toured through The Netherlands and performed in the movie theatres in a tribute to Ray Charles.
Also, the orchestra co-produced an All American Program with Het Gelders  Orkest and performed pieces by Gershwin and Ellington and also music written by Henk Meutgeert himself. The music was especially arranged for this extraordinary bigband-symphonicorchestra combination. Further co-productions are for example the successful double bigband concert with the NDR-bigband (Germany) and Ellington’s Sacred Concerts with
Miranda van Kralingen.

Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw
Henk Meutgeert: conductor
Joris Roelofs: lead alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute
Jorg Kaaij: alto saxophone, flute
Simon Rigter: tenor saxophone
Sjoerd Dijkhuizen: tenor saxophone, clarinet
Juan Martinez: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Jelle Schouten: lead trumpet, flugelhorn
Wim Both: trumpet, flugelhorn
Rini Swinkels: trumpet, flugelhorn
Ruud Breuls: trumpet, flugelhorn
Jan van Duikeren: trumpet, flugelhorn
Martijn Sohier: lead trombone
Hansjörg Fink: trombone
Bert Boeren: trombone
Martien de Kam: bass trombone
Martijn van Iterson: guitar
Martijn Vink: drums
Marcel Serierse: drums
Frans van Geest: bass
Peter Beets: piano