Wednesday, 2014 July 2^nd, 7 PM

Dzintari Concert Hall

Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw (Holand)

&

Grammy award winner

Roy Hargrove (trumpet, USA)

The orchestra Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw is based in the prestigious Concertgebouw of Amsterdam promoting jazz in a regular concerts series. As the leading Dutch jazz orchestra it performs a minimum of 35 concerts a year. The 18 members of The Jazz Orchestra of the  Concertgebouw (JOC) are the current most talented jazz musicians in The Netherlands and the orchestra performs regularly with guest jazz artists of the highest standards such as Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, James Carter, Richard Galliano, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jessye Norman etc.

The orchestra was founded in 1996 as the New Concert Big Band. In 1999 the band swiftly moved to centre stage under an arrangement with Amsterdam’s prestigious Concertgebouw to become The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. Currently the JOC has more than 35.000 visitors a year and performed in The Netherlands, Europe, South America, Mexico, China and Japan.

In 2007 the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw started it’s own label JOC Records and recorded and produced her first CD in the Dutch series collection. At least one album a year is currently being released with exclusively Dutch music or by Dutch soloists.

The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw collaborates with young musicians in exciting projects. New perspectives on bigband music make the orchestra sound on the cutting edge in contemporary popular music.

The orchestra has developed a long-term relationship with the Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Bimhuis Amsterdam(internationally considered as one of the best jazz clubs) and NTR (Dutch television and radio). Internationally the Orchestra is greatly renowned and sells its CDs worldwide. In 2010 it received the Dutch Edison Jazz&World award for its Blues for the Date album, which was also nominated one of the five best in the category large ensemble albums by All About Jazz in New York.

Conductor/composer/arranger Henk Meutgeert received the prestigious Bird Award in 1999. Subsequently, pianist Peter Beets won the Martial Solal prize and guitarist Martijn van Iterson the Dutch Bird Award.

The Orchestra is often invited to perform in the most appealing concert halls and festivals abroad and has played in South America, the USA, Asia and Africa.

Since its foundation in 1996 the Orchestra has been supported financially by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Performing Arts Fund, with the focus on entrepreneurship. The Orchestra’s own income is around 75%.

Every year the audience of the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw amounts to an average of 25,000 visitors in the Netherlands and 5,000 in the rest of world.

Roy Hargrove (1969) is one of a handful of jazz artists of his generation who have deservedly attained critical and commercial star status. Ever-stretching into more challenging and colourful ways to flex his musical chops, Hargrove has left indelible imprints in a vast array of artful settings.

He won a Grammy with the Afro-Cuban project ‘Crisol’ and pioneered with the funky nu-jazz of the RH Factor (‘Hard Groove’ & ‘Distractions’) whilst consistently keeping his straight-ahead jazz quintet on the road, performing around the globe.

Hargrove also leads the Roy Hargrove Big Band, which has created quite a stir in the USA and Japan, where it played venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Yoshi’s, Central Park and the Blue Note Jazzclubs.

Roy Hargrove has now been invited to conduct and perform his music as a special guest with the Dutch Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. They will perform two exclusive concerts in Europe, on 2 July at the Dzintars Concert Hall in Jurmala, Latvia and on 4 July at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.