Joep van Leeuwen

John Abercrombie:
“Solo Guitar is one of the most, if not the most challenging of tasks. Joep Van Leeuwen (my friend and colleague for many years now) makes this Leap of Faith, in the most Musical way! To do this is indeed difficult, but to do it on an old 1939 Gibson archtop guitar, recorded only with a mike and no extra goodies like reverb/delay, etc., is really taking a big risk."
Joep van Leeuwen live in Paris at Theatre de l'Ile Saint Louis, Oct. 14th, 2008, promoting his new solo jazz guitar cd "It Could Happen to You" (JazzAround Records) with liner notes by John Abercrombie. Ordering info cd solo jazz guitar: [email protected]
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Joep van Leeuwen:
Jazzguitarist and faculty member Joep van Leeuwen has an international carreer. First of all in the Euregional jazz. With Maastricht, Holland as his basis he has, for 30 years, determined what the jazz scene looks like in the area of Liège (B), Aachen/Cologne (D), Heerlen/Maastricht(NL), Hasselt/Brussel (B). He has set the tone and level for this music by playing, teaching, organising and as a publicist. His carreer extends outside of this area with performances in the USA and three times for the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Classical Joep van Leeuwen (1955) studied classical guitar at the Maastrichts Conservatorium. Already during his studies he was actively involved in jazz. He performed with the American trumpet player Charlie Green, then a resident of Maastricht.
Jazz After graduating he left his native city of Maastricht in 1980 and moved to Berne, Switserland where he studied jazz guitar, composing and arranging on a scholarship at the Swiss Jazz School. Regularly he performed in both Switserland and Holland with bands consisting of students of this conservatory of jazz music.
Prices He was awarded the Jerry van Rooyen Award, the prestigious Maastricht Jazz award during the Maastricht Jazztival event on November 27, 2006.
Teaching In 1985 he returned to Maastricht and joined the faculty of the jazz department of the Maastricht Conservatorium. Apart from guitar he also teaches ensemble playing and lectures on the history of jazz. From 1995 to 2001 he co-headed the jazz department. He is also artistic coordinator of the post-graduate programm of the Zuid-Nederlandse Hogeschool voor Muziek. He was recently appointed as a member of the conservatory-university research group for “Art and Publicity.”
IAJE From 1992 to 1997 he was on the European board of the International Association of Jazz Educators. From 1993 to 1997 he was the European Coordinator of this world wide organisation of jazz musicians.
Playing As a player he is active in settings ranging from solo guitar to big band. He has performed with Peter Leitch, Garrison Fewell, John Stowell, Marc Nightingale, Mark Turner, Robert Jeanne, Toon Roos, Leo Janssen, Marc Frankinet, Ruud Breuls, Rob Bruynen (and big band Brownie Speaks), Antoine Cirri, Arnoud Gerritse, Hans Braber, Bruno Castellucci, Sal LaRocca, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Hans Mantel, Janice Lakers, Hilde Vanhove, Digna Janssen, Frank Giebels, Berendt van de Berg and others.
Festivals He played at major international festival: Montreux Jazz festival (1999, 2000, 2003), Maastricht Jazz Mecca (1992) and Music Nights (1998), Jazzfestival Liege (2005)
Jerry van Rooyen Award On November 27 2005 he was awarded the prestigious Jerry van Rooyen Award during the Jazztival, one of Maastrichts Jazzfestivals. Jerry van Rooyen is one of Hollands formost arrangers/composers.
Solo guitar Of all the different styles of guitar playing, solo jazz guitar seems to be the most challenging. Usually a guitarist can rely on his accompaniment such as bass, drums and piano. But the guitarist who sits on stage just by himself has to play the role of these instruments by himself. To be able to play melodies, rhythmn, basslines, etc. at the same time, this jazz gitarist has be some kind of wizard. Joep van Leeuwen is one of those. He bases his playing on the work of the American guitarist Joe Pass who developed this way of playing. Joep has extended this style by including the possibilities of the guitar synthesizer in his solo playing.
America - Montreux His solo guitar playing led him to Boston, Ma., USA in January 1994 where he conducted a clinic on this subject for the annual conference of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). In January 1995 Rick Stone invited him to play in New York City. In 1996 he did a clinic and a concert on solo guitar playing for the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Trombone - Montreux Joep van Leeuwen has a special interest in the guitar-trombone duo. He as a duo with trombonist Jack Coenen with whom he plays a mix of standards and originals by Joep van Leeuwen. This duo performed for the Maastrichtse jazzfestival Music Nights (1998) and twice for the Montreux Jazzfestival (1999 & 2000). He has also recorded with the British trombonist Mark Nightingale. This cd will be available shortly. In 2003 the duo with Nightingale played for the Montreux Jazz festival.
The Trio The trio has the classic combination of guitar, bass and drums. As it’s repertoire it choses the ususal jazz material consisting of known (and not-so-known) jazz themes, standards, latin pieces, etc.) and originals of the leader of the trio. The trio has performed on many stages an played for a variety of the jazz festivals such as the Maastricht Jazz Festival Jazz Mecca in 1992.
Publicist In 2008 he published 4 articles on Third Stream Music in the Belgium Jazz magazine "Jazzmozaiek". From 1996 to 2001 he published on a weekly basis on Jazz for the dutch newspaper Limburgs Dagblad. His writings were also regularly published in the monthly magazine Jazz News. His knowledge of jazz history makes him a sought after person for regular publications and lectures on jazz and blues.