JORIS TEEPE
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A Dutch New Yorker with creativity as trademark
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In 1992 bassist Joris Teepe left his homeland - The Netherlands - to chase his dream of being a jazz musician in New York. He moved into a $300-per-month room in Manhattan. The room was so small that in the daytime the double bass occupied his bed, and Joris had to store it in the shower at night.
He took lessons with Ron Carter, and a year later he recorded his first CD with a band co-led by tenor saxophonist Don Braden. The next six or seven years he found himself working with legends such as Benny Golson, Sonny Fortune, Billy Hart and Randy Brecker.
Up till now, Joris has recorded 22 albums as a leader or co-leader and over 65 as a sideman. His longest stint was with Rashied Ali (John Coltrane’s last drummer), with whom he recorded 5 albums and toured the world between 2000 and 2009. Among other ‘heavy cats’ that Joris performed and recorded with are Barry Harris, Bobby Watson, Tom Harrell, John Abercrombie, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman and Mike Clark, and Dutch masters such as John Engels (who toured with Chet Baker), Benjamin Herman, Eric Ineke and Rob van Bavel.
Composing and arranging has always been a creative outlet for Joris and a motivation to release so many of his own albums - besides recording his compositions on releases with (again) Don Braden, Rashied Ali and Randy Brecker, not to mention Chris Potter, Kevin Hays, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Deborah Brown, Louis Hayes, James Williams, Tom Harrell, Tim Armacost, Cyrus Chestnut, Mike Stern, Carl Allen, Gene Jackson and many others.
Joris wrote over 100 original compositions, including large pieces for Symphony Orchestra + Jazz Quartet and Symphony Orchestra + Big Band + Choir. He leads his Joris Teepe Big Band in New York, playing exclusively his own music, and performs his own repertoire as a guest soloist with local big bands.
Over the years Teepe has established himself as an experienced jazz educator, teaching at “Queens College, Aaron Copland School of Music” (NY), “Jazz for Teens” (Newark NJ), as well as serving as the Director of the Jazz Department at the “Prince Claus Conservatory” in Groningen, Netherlands.
He has also taught at “Peter Herbolzheimer European Jazz Academy” (Germany), “Jazzinty” (Slovenia), “ChoJazz” (Poland), “Orsara Jazz Camp” (Italy), “JZ-School Summer Camp” (China), and “Litchfield Jazz Camp” (Connecticut, USA).
Creativity is the trademark of this Dutch New Yorker. Every concert is a challenge for the audience and for himself, due to his swinging grooves and unique international experience! You can listen to most of his music on all major streaming platforms or watch performances and recordings on YouTube and