In 1994 Hein van de Geyn created his group BASELINE with John Abercrombie and Joe LaBarbara. He received the Bird Award and the prestigious Prins Bernhard Fonds Music Prize (for the stimulation of young musicians and his merit for European Jazz) and was elected as "Best European Acoustic Bass Player".
JOHN ABERCROMBIE (NY,1944) began playing the guitar at the age of fourteen, graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1969. He recorded with Gil Evans, Gato Barbieri, Barry Miles, Chico Hamilton and many other artists. It was as the guitarist in Billy Cobham's band that Abercrombie first began attracting widespread attention among the general public. In 1979, Abercrombie formed his own quartet, which included pianist Richie Beirach, bassist George Mraz and drummer Peter Donald. John Abercrombie possesses a unique voice as a jazz guitarist combining evolving technologies with a tradition well represented by jazz standards.
JOE LABARBERA (NY,1948) is best known as drummer of the Bill Evans trio. After Berklee College of Music and the US Army band he started his professional career with Woody Herman. He played with Jim Hall, Phil Woods, Art Farmer, Art Pepper, Bob Brookmeyer, Toots Thielemans and many others. After the death of Bill Evans in 1980 he joined Tony Benett. Since 1993 he teaches at the California Institute of Arts, the Bud Shank Jazz Workshop and gives guest performances and lectures at many other institutes.
