joris teepe banner hp 1100x260

Image

Bassist Joris Teepe (1962) is the first jazz musician from The Netherlands to be able to make it in New York.

Arriving in New York in 1992 with just his bass and a suitcase, he took lessons with Ron Carter, quickly met many musicians and started to work a lot. A year later he recorded his first CD, with a band co-led by Don Braden and featuring Cyrus Chestnut, Carl Allen and Tom Harrell. From that point everything really took off for Joris and he became a bassist in great demand. He has been working with the “who-is-who in Jazz”, such as Benny Golson, Sonny Fortune, Rashied Ali, Billy Hart and Randy Brecker. Coming from a bebop background it was being a member of the Rashied Ali Quintet for 9 years what really changed his vision on music. “When I joined the group we first had Frank Lowe on saxophone (later replaced by Lawrence Clark) and I had no idea what they where doing”.

Currently Joris has recorded 10 albums as a leader. He also established himself as a composer, record producer (many different labels and artists), educator (director of Jazz Studies at the Hanze University, Bass Professor at Queens College, NY) and bandleader.

In 2004 Joris Teepe has been nominated for the Bird Award at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the category “Artist deserving wider recognition”.

“..Joris Teepe has become musical partners with some of the best musicians in New York. This is due to his status as a bassist who possesses a warm, even tone, and a sympathic, swinging beat (..) but also to his abilities as a writer, arranger and band leader.” – Peter Washington, New York

Current projects: (besides leading his own groups)

  • The Intercontinental Jazz Trio – with Tim Armacost (sax) & Shingo Okudaira (drums) https://www.facebook.com/IntercontinentalJazzTrio
  • The Rashied Ali Tribute Band
  • Jon Davis Trio
  • Lewis Porter/Dan Faulk Group
  • Benny Golson “Dutch Quartet”
  • Don Braden Quartet
  • Sonny Fortune Quintet
  • Alex Sipiagin & Joris Teepe Duo Project
  • Vincent Herring/Eric Alexander Quintet, featuring Harold Mabern
  • Jeanfrancois Prins Trio, featuring drummer Victor Lewis
  • Teepe has his own “Concert Series” at the Oosterpoort Theatre in Groningen The Netherlands, 4 times per year.
  • Teepe is hosting a Jazz Concert Series with drummer Roy Dackus at Blijburg (Amsterdam IJburg, The Netherlands) – Friday evenings.

 

Experience as a bassist:

Teepe has developed an extensive knowledge of every aspect of jazz performance and never denies his artistic vision and adventurous personality. Joris has performed and recorded with hundreds of musicians and the following is just a summary:

 

Composer / Arranger:

composer arrangerjpgTeepe’s work as a writer and arranger makes a substantial contribution to his artistic statement. 41 of his original compositions have been recorded on 16 different CD’s. His hip arrangements of Benny Golson’s “Whisper not “, Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge” and Randy Brecker’s “Some Skunk Funk” are becoming well known in the Jazz Community.

He has arranged music for many singers, such as Deborah Brown, Fay Claassen, Nana, Mathilde Santing.

Recently Joris Teepe has been writing for large ensembles. He wrote an extensive repertoire for Big Band and for Nonet, and several larger pieces for Jazz Quartet and Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra works were premiered in October 2007 with the North Netherlands Symphony, conducted by Jan Stoelen and featuring Don Braden, Gene Jackson and David Berkman . The Big Band repertoire was premiered in April 2008 with the National Radio Big Band in Bucharest Romania. In 2012 a piece was premiered for Choir, Big Band and Symphony Orchestra entitled “Work, work , work” and it was conducted by John Clayton.

 

Record Producer:

Recently Teepe has been producing several recordings for a variety of Jazz-artists. His productions include Barend Middelhoff “Soil” (A-Records), Joey Berkley “Made in NYC” (A-Records), Fay Claassen “Rhythms & Rhymes” (Jazz’N Pulz), Mathilde Santing “New Amsterdam” (SONY) and CD’s by Ted Rosenthal, Jorg Kaaij and Deborah Brown for Jazzimpuls. Teepe has made arrangements of many tunes for these sessions and worked on these productions with great musicians such as Toots Thielemans, Mike Stern, Bob Mintzer, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Dick Oatts. In 2005 and 2006 he produced two CD’s for Korean pianist Mi Jung Lim, featuring Billy Drummond, Tom Harrell, Steve Wilson, Greg Tardy, George Garzone, Donny McCaslin and more. Teepe’s latest production is for Dutch pianist Robert Bosscher, recorded in May 2008 and featuring Billy Hart, Mark Turner and Scott Wentholt.

 

Equipment:

I have two German upright basses and one Chinese plywood upright bass that I use for traveling. I use a German and a French bow, depending on the occasion. I use a realist pick up and sometimes an underwood. In the studio I only use microphones I use mostly a Gallien Krueger Amp, but also like Ampeg. Most of the year I am on the road so I use whatever amp they provide. I also play electric bass and have 4 electric basses. I have a fretless Fender Jazz Bass 1976, an Ibanez 4-string, a Piet Visser handmade 5-string and a Squire 4-string.