Biography
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