As one of the most sought-after jazz artists of our time, PETER BEETS has attracted a devoted international audience, performing regularly at major jazz festivals and venues throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. He has shared the stage with jazz greats such as Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Toots Thielemans and Benny Golson.

From birth, Peter was surrounded by music: classical from his mother who is a music pedagogue, and jazz from his father who instilled in his son his own great love of Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey. His brothers Marius and Alexander also became professional musicians, double bass and tenor saxophone respectively. Since 1985, the brothers have performed together as The Beets Brothers.

In 1988 Peter was awarded the prestigious Pall Mall Swing Award, and a year later the Princess Christina Award. In 1998 he completed his conservatory studies, winning the Prix Martial Solal in Paris. In the same year, he became the featured pianist with The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. The following year, he was also awarded the Concours de Solistes de Jazz in Monaco.

In 2001 the Criss Cross label invited Peter for a series of albums with his New York Trio, inviting artists like Willie Jones III, Larry Grenadier and Greg Hutchinson, earning him international acclaim.

In 2010 Peter was awarded an Edison (Dutch equivalent of the Grammy) for the album Blues for the Date, with his original compositions, accompanied by The Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw. In 2013, Peter recorded his long-awaited tribute album to one of his biggest idols, Oscar Peterson and in 2015 he made a recording out of a live performance of his Chopin arrangements.

His 2018 live recording of Django Reinhardt compositions with a gypsy jazz trio including Stochelo Rosenberg is seen by many as a historical performance. A year later world class record producer Ruud Jacobs brought about Peter’s new trio recording called ‘Our Love Is Here to Stay – Gershwin Reimagined’.

Besides his continuous work on playing in trio setting, Peter founded a big band with young professionals, called the New Jazz Orchestra. Peter writes new music for this orchestra, arrangements based on classical music. Legendary bass player John Clayton invited Peter to play at the San Diego jazzfestival in 2020, but Covid spoiled this momentum. Instead, John Clayton traveled to Europe in 2022 to meet and play together with Peter, as well as with his New Jazz Orchestra.

In 2021 Peter accepted an invitation to play Rhapsody in Blue, the finger busting piano concerto by George Gershwin, with a large symphony orchestra. Although Peter is not a classical pianist, he accepted the challenge to play this iconic piece, on the condition that he can interpretate it his own way. The recordings are on YouTube.

During his yearly visit to the East Coast of America, in 2023 Peter decided it was time to record again. This time his great love of classical music is again subject to his touch of jazz. This album, titled Tchaikovsky Rachmaninov and All That Jazz! features works by Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Prokofiev in addition to pieces by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Beets signed for the arrangements.

The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw (JOC) – the Netherlands’ best big band with the most swing, according to many – was founded in 1996 by Henk Meutgeert and others as the New Concert Big Band. Since 1999, on the initiative of then-Concertgebouw managing director Martijn Sanders, it has proudly borne the name of Het Koninklijk Concertgebouw ['The Royal Concert Hall'].

The JOC performs worldwide with jazz greats the likes of Benny Golson and Oleta Adams and talented young blood, with José James, Christian Scott and Ruben Hein among the pool. The JOC connects with its audiences, whether in large or smaller settings and makes jazz, in the broadest sense of the word, accessible to audiences of all ages and expectations. Through its shows abroad, the JOC manages to bring Dutch jazz far afield and to the stages of famous concert halls. Approximately 35,000 visitors are drawn to the JOC's concerts each year.

Principal conductor Dennis Mackrel

As of November 2015, the JOC is led by principal conductor Dennis Mackrel (1962). Mackrel started his professional career at the age of ten and at twenty became the Count Basie band’s youngest ever drummer. Mackrel played with orchestras such as The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Carla Bley Very Large Band and the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band. He grew from sideman to bandleader in his many partnerships with European orchestras such as the UMO big band from Helsinki (Finland) and the WDR big band from Cologne (Germany). In 2010 he returned to the Count Basie Orchestra as bandleader, where he remained until 2013.

The partnership with the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw dates back to 2004, when he made several appearances as a drummer. Starting in 2014, Mackrel conducted the orchestra on numerous occasions, including in the historical main hall of the Concertgebouw.

Talent development

As pioneers in the Dutch jazz scene, the JOC has initiated two projects for top talent in (jazz) music: Rhythm Changes and the Arrangers project. Over the course of these projects, young talent got given the opportunity to experience large(r) stages in a professional environment. These projects bring new life and new music to the big band genre and build bridges between the generations on stage as well as reach out to audiences.