GERMANY - Lorenz Heigenhuber – Double Bass

Lorenz Heigenhuber was born near munich and raised by two classical musicians. He began playing the piano at an early age and discovered the electric bass at the age of 12. After some time studys in classical double bass followed, and the first jazz experiences at the bavarian youth jazz orchestra were happening. Turning 18 Lorenz began studying electric bass at the Richard Strauss Conservatory respectively later University of Music and performing Arts Munich. He soon became a main member of the southern german jazz scene and a well respected bass player both by his fellow colleagues and the audience. He lives as a freelance musician, performing and recording with various artists such as Bastian Jütte, Christian Elsässer Orchestra / Quartet, Peter O’mara, Claus Raible, Gregory Rivkin, Peter Tuscher, Walter Lang, Harald Rüschenbaum, Jamaram, Jesse Boykins, Takuya Kuroda, Konrad und der Löwe, Rickie Lee Kroell, Maria Rui. Concerts brought him to Hungary, Chile, Italy and France and Austria.“

BELGIUM – Jan Daelman - Flute

Flutist Jan Daelman started his studies at the Jazzstudio in 2008, where he studied under Marek Partman. In 2009 he enrolled in the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He was taught by Jeroen Van Herzeele and participated in masterclasses with Peter Erskine, Chris Jennings, Andy Sheppard, Bo Van Der Werf en Jozef Dumoulin. 

Together with pianist Thijs Troch he started the band Seraphic 4, a jazzquartet that won Young Jazz Talent at Jazzenede contest and the public award at Jazzcontest Mechelen.  

In their other band Keenroh they look for an environment where their improvisations can develop unlimitedly towards spontaneous but full-blown compositions. Their unusual line-up and the experimental way in which the duo approached their instruments let them produce a unique range of sounds that often serve as the starting point for their improvisational concepts. Keenroh recently won the Young Jazz Talent Ghent 2014, competition for promising young bands organised yearly by the Gent Jazz Festival.  They released a duo record in 2014 and in 2015 they formed a nonet (Keenroh XL) with Bart Maris and Teun Verbruggen which opened at Gent Jazz Festival and released a record in november. In 2014 Jan started KABAS a new quartet with Nils Vermeulen on double bass and Elias Devoldere on drums and Thijs Troch on piano. They released their first album in april 2016 on the El Negocito Records Label.

LUXEMBURG - Maxime Bender - Saxophone

Born in 1982, Maxime Bender is a composer/multi- instrumentalist: tenor saxophone, soprano, and alto, flute and piano. He studied at Musikhochschule Köln, graduated in Jazz saxophone & Jazz composition/arrangement with Wolfgang Engstfeld, Frank Reinshagen a.o.. Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles with Steve Houben, Jean Louis Rassinfosse a.o.. Conservatoire National de Région in Strasbourg & CEDIM in Strasbourg with Roby Glod, Philippe Aubry, Michael Alizon, Bernard Struber a.o.. Conservatoire de Luxembourg with Roby Glod, Erwin Vann a.o.

He won the Elie Music Award in 2007 and was nominated for the Eurodjango in 2007 in the category “young talent” / awards for composition at the Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon in 2008 / 3rd European Jazz prize in Burghausen. 

The saxophonist Maxime Bender is part of a new young jazz artists generation from Luxembourg, inspired by a large scale of genres and moving away from the typical jazz routine. As a leader in several bands, he takes advantage of a multiplicity of projects to showcase his different facets as a composer and saxophone player: the Maxime Bender 4tet, the Maxime Bender Orchestra, the Maxime Bender Group featuring David Binney and the last new project Maxime Bender Universal Sky.

Maxime Bender collaborates with musicians like Anne Pacéo, Manu Codjia, Oliver Lutz, Philipp van Endert and others. His last album « Path of Decisions » will be released with his Quartet on the French label Laborie Jazz in September 2016.

SLOVAKIJE - Pavel Morochovic  - Piano

Pavel Morochovič a Slovakian jazz pianist and composer burst onto the Slovak jazz scene in 2014. His critically acclaimed debut release, eight song trio record titled “Awakening“, features a unit of interconnected motives built on the original music fluently interwoven by genres like jazz, classical and world music. In 2016 Pavel received Radio Head Awards and ESPRIT nominations for the Best Jazz Album in Slovakia.

Pavel enlists renowned Slovak musicians: bassist Juraj Griglák (Ron Affif, Frank McComb, Poogie Bell, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra) and drummer Martin Valihora (Hiromi, Harry Sokal, Lee Ritenour, Ron Affif, Frank McComb, Mezzoforte) for this project.

The turning point in his music career was meeting musician and producer Ivan Dimitrov in 2011 who came up with the idea of making his debut release featuring bassist Juraj Griglák and drummer Martin Valihora. „Ivan not only initiated the recording but helped to produce it by giving a great support to this project.“, Pavel recalls. The Awakening was recorded on October 15, 2013 and released by the label Hevhetia on April 2, 2015.

Above all, his recent activities include performing solo and with his piano trio featuring drummer Martin Valihora and bassist Juraj Griglák in various well-known clubs and music festivals (International Jazz Solo Piano Festival Prague, One Day Jazz Fest, Open Jazz Fest in Nove Mesto, ESPRIT 2015, Hevhetia Festival, etc.). As a pianist, composer and arranger he also collaborates with other artists mainly from the non-mainstream area.

NETHERLANDS – Neil Van Der Drift - Drums

Neil van der Drift, born in Drunen, the Netherlands, started playing the drums at the early age of 7. He initially started off at the local music gild, where the main focus was on classical percussion. At the age of 13, however, he transitioned to a full time focus on playing the drums.

Throughout his middle and high school years, Neil spent much time driving various musical activities. For example, he played in various rock bands, and was a key member of the marching percussion group Percussion Unlimited, with whom he won several awards in significant international competitions.

Since then, Neil successfully completed his formal education at the Tilburg Conservatory with a B.A. in 2012 and a M.A. in 2015. During the last phase of his education, Neil focussed, aside from playing the drums, on his composition work, for which took classes with, amongst others, Hans van Oosterhout, Joost Patocka and Franz von Chossy.

Aside from Neil's activities as band member, in 2014 he started his own group, aptly called the Neil van der Drift Group. The group consists of 10 jazz musicians, but they regularly cross over their style to classical and world folk music. The group consists of a traditional jazz quintet with 2 brass players, strengthened by a singer and and a classical string quarter. Creating his own musical arrangements, Neil successfully toured with this group through China in 2015, where they performed 21 shows over a 5 week period. Later that year, he released his critically acclaimed album New Old City as well.