Joost Lijbaart (Amsterdam 1967) started playing drums at the age of 7, following his father Piet Lijbaart (Amsterdam 1933-1970).

He graduated in 1991 with honors from the Hilversum Conservatory where he followed classes with Cees Kranenburg, Marcel Serierse Ali Un D’Aye Rose and Victor Oskam.

With the Yuri Honing Trio in 1996, he made the album ‘Star Tracks’ from (a modern adaptation of European pop classics).

In the 20 year history of the trio the group released 5 CDs and performed on numerous tours in more than 90 countries. There were musical collaborations with musicians from the Middle East, India and China.

Besides working as a sideman Lijbaart focused also on his own projects, such as his own quartet ‘Group of Friends’, his duo with pianist Wolfert Brederode, the group Batik and his recently formed improvisation trio with vocalist Sanne Rambags and guitar player Bram Stadhouders.

At the North Sea Jazz Festival he received in 2003 as a drummer the soloist prize at the Dutch jazz competition given by Elvin Jones.

Joost played over the years regularly classical percussion music of Iannis Xenakis, John Cage and Steve Reich and worked on several projects together with Theo Loevendie and Louis Andriessen. He performed as a soloist with the New Ensemble at the Muziekgebouw in 2016.

He was collaborating with artists from other disciplines such as dancer / choreographer Anouk van Dijk, dancer / choreographer Lonneke of Leth and writer PF Thomese.

Joost Lijbaart is a player with many different interests. He has years of experience in the history of jazz from the 50s and 60s, played a lot of pop and rock and studied musical traditions of West Africa, Northern India and the Middle East.

As an experienced teacher Joost Lijbaart gives regular guest lectures and classes at conservatories around the world.
Since 2016 he is also teaching entrepreneurship at the Conservatory in Amsterdam and the Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen.

Joost Lijbaart toured in more than 90 countries around the world and performed at many major jazz festivals.

Gulli Gudmundsson, born in Iceland in 1971 plays double bass since an early age. After attending music school in his homeland, he moved to the Netherlands and enrolled at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in 1993 where he studied with Jacques Schols, Frans van der Hoeven en Hein van de Geyn. Graduating in 1999 he quickly assimilated into the Dutch jazz scene, playing with most prominent players and appearing on more than 40 records.

He has toured to in about every European country and as well in Asia, Africa, North- and South America, and played on festivals such as North Sea Jazz Festival Rotterdam, Jarasum South Korea, Tokyo Jazz Festival, Hong Kong Jazz Festival and Belgrade Jazz Festival to name a few.

In 2005 he joined Eric Vloeimans Gatecrash, whose record ‘Gatecrashing’ won the prestigious Edison awards in 2007.

Gulli also plays with the Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet and which won the prestigious Dutch Edison awards for Best Jazz Record in 2016 (Desire, Challenge Records) and Best Jazz Record in 2017 (Goldbrun, Challenge Records).

Gulli is a member of the Wolfert Brederode Trio, which recorded ‘Black Ice’ for the prestigious ECM label in 2016, which was received with universal acclaim from a global audience.

He writes and produces his own music under the name Binary Orchid. The CD ‘Radioactivity’ appeared in 2006 featuring Arve Henriksen on Trumpet.

Gulli taught main subject Double Bass at the Conservatory of Antwerpen from 2003 to 2006, and teaches at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague since 2018.

Wolfert Brederode started playing classical piano and violin at the age of seven. In his early teenage years he also discovered pop- and jazz music and started composing his own music.

In 1999 he graduated with honors from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where he had been studying with ao Frans Elsen, Albert Brussee and Rob van Kreeveld.

Wolfert has since then developed into one of the most prominent and authentic voices on the Dutch jazz scene. His refined and focused touch, the concern for natural flow, his openness and a relentless search for new horizons are characteristic features of his music.

He debuted with groups such as Nimbus, the Wolfert Brederode Quintet and Trio, Binary Orchid, Duo Lijbaart/Brederode and Batik. Later he founded his lauded international quartet with Claudio Puntin, Mats Eilertsen and Samuel Rohrer. Ensembles of current interest are Ruins and Remains, a project with drummer Joost Lijbaart and the Matangi Quartet, duo Ella Zirina/Wolfert Brederode and duo Lijbaart/Brederode. As a leader he recorded four albums for ECM Records. His latest album is Ruins and Remains which has been released in September 2022 on ECM and has been rewarded with the Edison Jazz Award in 2023.

As a much in demand sideman Wolfert has been working extensively with ao Susanne Abbuehl, Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet, Celano/Baggiani/Badenhorst/Brederode and Kika Sprangers’s No Man’s Land. Both as a sideman and with his own ensembles he recorded several albums, and toured and performed at festivals throughout Europe, North- and South America, Canada, Asia, Australia and Africa. Four albums on which he collaborated have been awarded with an Edison Award. Wolfert has furthermore worked with artists such as David Liebman, Arve Henriksen, Mark Feldman, Tore Brunborg, Ack van Rooyen, Jeanne Lee, Mathias Eick, Michel Portal and Marilyn Mazur.

Apart from performing Wolfert composes regularly for dance, theatre and film productions as well as working as a producer. Wolfert is a main subject teacher jazz piano & ensembles at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and Fontys in Tilburg, the Netherlands.