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

Eric Ineke ( b. April 1(!), 1947), mostly self-taught, began playing gigs in late 1964 with people like Ferdinand Povel, Rob Madna, Piet Noordijk, Wim Overgaauw and Frans Elsen. From 1971 until 1989 he was a member of the now legendary Rein de Graaff/Dick Vennik Quartet. He toured through Europe accompanying a lot of visiting American and European musicians, such as: Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Don Byas, George Coleman, Al Cohn, Lee Konitz, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles McPherson, Dave Pike, Doug Raney, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Curtis Fuller, Bud Shank, David Liebman and played on numerous Jazz festivals in Europe and the USA. He was the drummer behind Jimmy Raney on almost all of his European tours.
Since 1984 Eric Ineke is member of the Dutch Jazz Orchestra that went to the USA in 1995 to play a concert for the Duke Ellington-conference in Pittsburgh and also recorded the Music of Billy Strayhorn (CHR70089/92). In 1990 he started as a teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. In 1999 he formed the Wolfert Brederode/Eric Ineke Quintet and recorded the CD's "Trinity" and "Pictures of You" (A-records). With David Liebmann and Marius Beets he recorded “Lieb Plays Wilder” (DBCHR75214).
In 2006, Eric Ineke’s JazzXpress came about. “While driving to a gig with David Liebman in Antwerp, Belgium, Dave said it was about time I started my own hardbop group. ‘You should do this, and ask some good youngsters.’ That night, Marius Beets was on bass and tenor saxophonist Sjoerd Dijkhuizen came by. Marius said: ‘This is what we’ve been waiting for!’ Sjoerd immediately asked if he could be part of it. Of course he could!” For the piano chair Eric asked Rob van Bavel, with whom he had developed ‘a great rhythmic rapport’ after they both had been part of the Piet Noordijk Quartet and the high-energy Jarmo Hoogendijk/Ben van den Dungen Quintet. Young trumpet sensation Rik Mol – just 22 while I’m writing this - was recommended by his former teacher Jarmo Hoogendijk, who had to retire from stage because of a lip injury.
The band’s name was made up by Eric’s fellow musicians. “They decided that my name should be part of it, and they invented the word Xpress, with the capital X. It looks good on jazz club and festival posters.”