Hein Van de Geyn is a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 bassist

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and band leader from the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. He is a critically acclaimed artist and performer, as both as a sideman and solo. Van de Geyn won a North Sea Jazz

North Sea Jazz Festival

The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...

 award in 1998. He was also voted "Best European Acoustic Bass Player" in this year by a referendum by the Belgian radio stations RTBF and VRT. Van de Geyn is also an active teacher of bass and as well as music in general, and he is head of bass at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague

Royal Conservatory of The Hague

The Royal Conservatory of The Hague is a conservatorium of music, providing higher education in music and dance, it is located in The Hague, Netherlands.-The Conservatory:...

.

In 2010 Van de Geyn decided to stop his career as a bassist and he moved with his family to South Africa to run a guest house, and dedicate his life to writing and education.

Van de Geyn has played as a sideman for well-known jazz artists including Jean "Toots" Thielemans

Toots Thielemans

Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...

, Chet Baker

Chet Baker

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...

, Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...

, Tal Farlow

Tal Farlow

Talmage Holt Farlow was an American jazz guitarist. Nicknamed the "Octopus", Farlow's extremely large hands spread over the fretboard as if they were tentacles. He is considered one of the all-time great jazz guitarists. Michael G...

 and Dee Dee Bridgewater

Dee Dee Bridgewater

Dee Dee Bridgewater is an American Jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award - winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater...

. He also has his own group, Baseline.

Discography

As a band leader -

• "Meets - Van de Geyn/Konitz" (1990)
• "Why Really - Baseline" (1994)
• "Standards - Baseline" (1995)
• "Returns - Baseline" (1996)
• "Woodwind Works - Hein Van de Geyn" (1999)
• "Deja Vu - Baseline" (2000)
• "The Guitar Album - Baseline" (2006)

External links

• [T Official website]
• Royal Conservatory of The Hague website