The Eric Ineke JazzXpress consists of the very talented Rik Mol on trumpet and flugelhorn, Sjoerd Dijkhuizen on tenorsaxophone, Rob van Bavel on piano, Marius Beets on doublebass and ofcourse Holland’s most prominent Jazzdrummer Eric Ineke.
The repertoire is rooted in the Hard-bop tradition and the most compositions are written by the bandmembers themselves. With three generations of jazzmuscians in this explosive band, Hard-bop will get a contemporary meaning and you can trust The Eric Ineke JazzXpress for that.
Right from the start in 2006 the band got great critical acclaim and appeared in Germany, Belgium and many festivals in Holland including the Northsea Jazz festival. In 2008 the band was a big success on the European Jazzfestival in Athens ( Greece). During a succesful theater tour for JazzImpuls in 2009, the band recorded the live CD ‘’JazzXL, Blues, Ballads and other Bright moments’’ which was released in 2011.
In the summer of 2011 the band got an invitation from the American Jazz Museum to perform in Kansas City together with the great singer Deborah Brown. Together they recorded the album ‘’All Too Soon’’ which was running for a Grammy. In 2012 The Eric Ineke JazzXpress did a series of concerts with David Liebman, The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and Deborah Brown in Holland and Germany to celebrate Eric Ineke’s 65th Birthday Anniversary.
In 2014 they performed with Deborah Brown at the Amersfoort Jazz Festival, which was recorded for Djazz TV, and the Bruxelles Jazz Marathon.
CD recordings by The Eric Ineke JazzXpress: Flames ‘n’ Fire ‘’If you like real Jazz, straight ahead without any gimmicks, this CD is for you’’ - David Liebman For the love of Ivie, a tribute to Ivie Anderson feat. Deborah Brown ‘’Brown proves every inch Reeves’, and Anderson’s equal’’ - Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes Xpressions in Time ‘’A tour de force on a high level’’ – Angelique van Os, Jazzmagazine ***** Jazz XL - Blues, Ballads and Other Bright Moments "Most impressive throughout this set is that the soloists (all of whom are excellent) avoid sounding like any of their historical predecessors, and the band has a strong team spirit." Scott Yanow

David Liebman was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 4, 1946. He began classical piano lessons at the age of nine and saxophone by twelve. His interest in jazz was sparked by seeing John Coltrane perform live in New York City clubs such as Birdland, the Village Vanguard and the Half Note. Throughout high school and college, Liebman pursued his jazz interest by studying with Joe Allard, Lennie Tristano and Charles Lloyd. Upon graduation from New York University (with a degree in American History), he began to seriously devote himself to the full time pursuit of being a jazz artist.
In the early 1970s, Liebman took the leading role (as President) in organizing several dozen musicians into a cooperative, Free Life Communication which became an integral part of the fertile New York "loft" jazz scene in the early 1970s and was funded by The New York State Council of the Arts and the Space for Innovative Development. After one year spent with Ten Wheel Drive, one of the early jazz fusion groups, Liebman secured the saxophone/flute position with the group of John Coltrane’s drummer, Elvin Jones. Within two years, Liebman reached the zenith of his apprenticeship period when Miles Davis hired him. These years, 1970-74, were filled with tours, recordings and the incredible experience gained by being on the band stand with two masters of jazz. At the same time, Liebman began exploring his own music-first in the Open Sky Trio with Bob Moses and then with pianist Richie Beirach in the group Lookout Farm. This group recorded for the German based ECM label as well as A&M Records while touring the U.S., Canada, India, Japan and Europe.
Over the past decades, Liebman has often been featured with top European jazz artists such as Joachim Kuhn, Daniel Humair, Paolo Fresu, Jon Christensen, Bobo Stenson and in the World View Trio with Austrian drummer Wolfgang Reisenger and French bassist Jean-Paul Celea. His ability to play in so many diverse styles has led to big band and radio orchestra performances with the Brussels Big Band, the WDR and NDR in Germany, the Metropole Orchestra of the Netherlands, the new music group Klangforum from Vienna and most notably, Liebman was the first improviser to perform with the world famous Ensemble Intercontemporain founded by Pierre Boulez in France. On all these occasions, the music is arranged from Liebman's own compositions and improvisations.
Liebman has received several distinguished awards including two NEA grants for composition and performance; an Honorary Doctorate from the Sibelius Acadamy of Helsinki; Finland; a Grammy nomination for Best Solo Performance in 1998 and Best Arrangement for Big Band in 2005; induction into the International Association of Jazz Educator's Hall of Fame in 2000; Artist Grant from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts in 2005; Jazz Journalist Award for Soprano Sax in 2007.

Jesse van Ruller started playing guitar when 7 years old. Studied with Dutch jazzguitar-master Wim Overgaauw at the Hilversum Conservatorium where he graduated in 1995. In that same year he won the Thelonius Monk Competition in Washington. The jury consisted of John Scofield, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, Pat Martino and Mark Whitfield. In 1996 his first album 'European Quintet' came out and received a lot of attention. The concerts that followed brought him all over the world with his quartets, trio's and duo. Over the years Jesse van Ruller made 10 CD's as a leader and appeared on numerous others as a sideman. He performed with various musicians and orchestra's, a.o. Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, Bill Stewart, Roy Hargrove, Peter Erskine, the Berliner Philharmoniker, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw and many more.
In the past years he toured with Dutch flamenco virtuoso Eric Vaarzon Morel with whom he developed a repertoire of flamenco-jazz. A new tour is planned for 2009-10.