Alex Affolter Jazz

Alex Affolter was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1973. He started singing at the age of three, and was introduced to jazz music by his parents. Their passion inspired him to learn of the styles of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. These styles thus became great influences for him. Alex spent his teenage years at International Schools in Saudi Arabia and Greece because of his father's work at a international airline. After graduating from the School of Athens (A.C.S.) in 1992, he studied acting, jazz and Broadway music at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York.In 1994, he returned to The Netherlands and took singing lessons with vocal coach George Webb at the conservatory of music in Hilversum. In 1996, he was asked to perform the opening act for the famous European pop band Ten Sharp in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. In 1999, he performed two benefit jazz gigs for the Color Me Freedom Foundation in Los Angeles, U.S.A. For the past 5 years, he has been actively involved with and performing in the Dutch jazz scene with John Engels, Sven Schuster, Trijntje Oosterhuis (Total Touch), Ten Sharp, Roger Happel and regularly appears at The Old Quarter Hotel jazz club, Canal Bus Jazz Cruise, Casablanca, Paradiso, Bimhuis and Alto Jazz Cafe, where many jazz artists have performed before including Chet Baker.In 2004, renowned German bassplayer Sven Schuster asked Alex to record two orginal compositions for his CD "Shooster" The CD won critical acclaim in the media and jazz scene of Holland and Germany and copies were even sold in The United States. He also performed a concert at the famous Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for the Robeco Zomercafe concerts, and the performance was broadcast nationally by Business News Radio. To conclude 2004, he recorded a song for the soundtrack of the Television Film "Boyfriend For Christmas" for the Hallmark Channel in the United States. In 2005, gigs were performed in Holland, Spain, Austria and Greece. In 2006, he recorded 4 jazz standards for renowned saxophone player Andonis Ladopoulos's CD "Little Flowers" in Athens, Greece.