Peter Beets
Encyclopedia
Peter Beets is a Dutch jazz pianist. He has shared the stage with jazz greats like Chick Corea
, Wynton Marsalis
, Dee Dee Bridgewater
, George Coleman
, Johnny Griffin
, Chris Potter
and John Clayton
. He recorded with Jeff Hamilton
and Curtis Fuller
and in 2001 his recording "New York Trio" was released, which was the start of his international career.
. From birth he was surrounded by music: classical from his mother who is a music pedagogue, and jazz from his father who is a gynaecologist with a great love of Oscar Peterson
and Art Blakey
. This musical family, which includes two older brothers, Marius and Alexander, moved in 1972 to Groenlo
, where Peter received his first piano lessons at the age of six. Although originally both parents did not associate the word "musician" with the word "career", music is definitely in the family's blood. Both Marius (1966) and Alexander (1968) become professionals on string bass and tenor saxophone, respectively. After college, Peter studied from 1989 at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague
. He combined his music studies with law school, but the jazz virus matured and he decided to concentrate exclusively on music.
, the driving force behind Monty Alexander
and Oscar Peterson
. Peter became a much wanted pianist both inside and outside the Netherlands, and accompanied, among others, Deborah Brown
, Dee Daniels and Holland's "First Lady of Jazz", Rita Reys
. In 1998 he finished his conservatory studies, and won the Parisian Prix Martial Solal. He also became the regular pianist of “The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw”. With trombone and jazz legend Curtis Fuller
, Peter made a live recording in 1999 and won in that same year yet another prize, the Concours de Solistes de Jazz in Monaco. More recordings follow: in 2000 “Powerhouse”, in 2001 “All Or Nothing At All”
In 2001 he recorded the CD “New York Trio”, with the rhythm tandem Rodney Whitaker and Willie Jones III, the first CD of Peter Beets recorded on the Criss Cross label
. After the sequel, “New York Trio Page Two” recorded with the world-famous Larry Grenadier
on bas he made a third CD for the label Criss Cross. This time with Reginald Veal on bass and drummer Herlin Riley
, known from the group around Wynton Marsalis
. In October 2007 the CD “New Groove” appeared on the renowned label. This time he chose to perform without drums, but with the strength of piano, guitar and bass. The CD is recorded in New York featuring Joe Cohn (guitar) and Reuben Rogers
(bass). A few songs are recorded with a Dutch cast, Martijn van Iterson (guitar) and Ruud Jacobs (bass).
In autumn 2010 Criss Cross released the fifth album of Peter Beets, 'Chopin meets the Blues'. On this album he uses Chopin melodies as a basis for jazz improvisation. He recorded this album with Joe Cohn (guitar), Reuben Rogers
(double bass) and Greg Hutchinson (drums)
Peter has had very successful tours with his trio in several countries in Europe such as Germany, Switzerland, Finland and Poland as well as in Japan and the US. He played at the famous Birdland Club
in New York as a “special guest” for one week.
In 2009 October 1, The Beets Brothers held a concert in Bangkok's Thai cultural center. A group of Music GCSE students from the Regent's School
came to watch the concert describing it to be "without a doubt, Brilliant."
in the big hall of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw resulted in a performance in trio setting there on the 16th of April 2005. He did a Dutch theatertour “From Bach till Blues” (2003) and returned in the theaters in 2005 with the program “Chopin meets the Blues”. From fall 2007 on he appeared in the theaters again. With this program “The Blues goes Latin” he showed the influence of Latin American and Spanish music on the jazz.
Peter is now working on two shows, a reprise of Chopin meets the Blues' and a 'Tribute to Oscar Peterson'
Peter Beets
Albums by other artists with a contribution by Peter Beets
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, 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...
, George Coleman
George Coleman
George Edward Coleman is an American hard bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, known chiefly for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s.-Biography:...
, Johnny Griffin
Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
, Chris Potter
Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist)
Chris Potter is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Potter spent most of his childhood in Columbia, South Carolina where his mother taught psychology at the University of South Carolina...
and John Clayton
John Clayton (bassist)
John Travis Clayton Jr. is an American jazz and classical double bassist.-Music:John Travis Clayton Jr. began seriously undertaking the study of double bass at age 16, studying with bass legend Ray Brown...
. He recorded with Jeff Hamilton
Jeff Hamilton
Jeff Hamilton is the name of:*Jeff Hamilton , of the Los Angeles Dodgers*Jeff Hamilton , ice hockey player*Jeff Hamilton , jazz drummer who has played with Diana Krall...
and Curtis Fuller
Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.-Biography:...
and in 2001 his recording "New York Trio" was released, which was the start of his international career.
The beginning
Peter Beets was born on the 12th of June, 1971 in The HagueThe Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. From birth he was surrounded by music: classical from his mother who is a music pedagogue, and jazz from his father who is a gynaecologist with a great love of Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
and Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
. This musical family, which includes two older brothers, Marius and Alexander, moved in 1972 to Groenlo
Groenlo
Groenlo is a city in the municipality of Oost Gelre, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands on the German border, a region in the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek . Groenlo was a municipality until January 1, 2005, when it merged with Lichtenvoorde. Until May 19 2006 Groenlo...
, where Peter received his first piano lessons at the age of six. Although originally both parents did not associate the word "musician" with the word "career", music is definitely in the family's blood. Both Marius (1966) and Alexander (1968) become professionals on string bass and tenor saxophone, respectively. After college, Peter studied from 1989 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:...
. He combined his music studies with law school, but the jazz virus matured and he decided to concentrate exclusively on music.
The start of a worldwide career
From 1985 the brothers performed together as “The Beets Brothers”. In 1988 Peter won the prestigious Pall Mall Swing Award and a year later the Princess Christina Award. After this point, Peter's career began to rise rapidly. In 1990 the first recording of The Beets Brothers appeared, followed by two more, School is Closed Now (1993) and Brotherwise (1995). In 1996, Peter recorded a remarkable trio album called “First Date”, with drummer Jeff HamiltonJeff Hamilton
Jeff Hamilton is the name of:*Jeff Hamilton , of the Los Angeles Dodgers*Jeff Hamilton , ice hockey player*Jeff Hamilton , jazz drummer who has played with Diana Krall...
, the driving force behind Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...
and Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
. Peter became a much wanted pianist both inside and outside the Netherlands, and accompanied, among others, Deborah Brown
Deborah Brown
Deborah Brown is an acclaimed Northern Irish sculptor. She is well known in Ireland for her pioneering exploration of the medium of fibre glass in the 1960s and has established herself as one of the country’s leading sculptors, achieving extensive international acclaim...
, Dee Daniels and Holland's "First Lady of Jazz", Rita Reys
Rita Reys
Rita Reys is a jazz singer from the Netherlands.At the 1960 jazz festival of Juan Les Pins , she received the title 'Europe’s first lady of jazz'.-Early career:...
. In 1998 he finished his conservatory studies, and won the Parisian Prix Martial Solal. He also became the regular pianist of “The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw”. With trombone and jazz legend Curtis Fuller
Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.-Biography:...
, Peter made a live recording in 1999 and won in that same year yet another prize, the Concours de Solistes de Jazz in Monaco. More recordings follow: in 2000 “Powerhouse”, in 2001 “All Or Nothing At All”
In 2001 he recorded the CD “New York Trio”, with the rhythm tandem Rodney Whitaker and Willie Jones III, the first CD of Peter Beets recorded on the Criss Cross label
Criss Cross Jazz
Criss Cross Jazz is a Dutch jazz record label, specializing in American jazz.Criss Cross was founded in 1980 by Gerry Teekens, a drummer and German professor. The label, which releases about 20 albums per year, is noted for its simple, block-color cover art...
. After the sequel, “New York Trio Page Two” recorded with the world-famous Larry Grenadier
Larry Grenadier
Larry Grenadier is an American jazz double bassist.His father, Albert, was a trumpet player, and his two brothers, Phil and Steve, would eventually play trumpet and guitar respectively. Grenadier too began on trumpet when he was 10 years old. His father taught him to read music and gave him his...
on bas he made a third CD for the label Criss Cross. This time with Reginald Veal on bass and drummer Herlin Riley
Herlin Riley
Herlin Riley is an American Neo-bop jazz drummer. Along with other notable musicians such as Wynton Marsalis and Wessel Anderson, he is a member of the New York jazz group, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra....
, known from the group around Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
. In October 2007 the CD “New Groove” appeared on the renowned label. This time he chose to perform without drums, but with the strength of piano, guitar and bass. The CD is recorded in New York featuring Joe Cohn (guitar) and Reuben Rogers
Reuben Rogers
Reuben Renwick Rogers is a American jazz bassist, composer and educator.-Biography:Born November 15, 1974, and raised in the Virgin Islands, Rogers was exposed to varieties of music that included Calypso, Reggae, Gospel and Jazz. In his formative years, Rogers received encouragement from his...
(bass). A few songs are recorded with a Dutch cast, Martijn van Iterson (guitar) and Ruud Jacobs (bass).
The present
In 2010 two CD's of Peter Beets were released. In spring the CD 'Blues for the Date' was released. This CD is a live recording Peter did with the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. This album features mainly songs composed by Peter Beets. It has been awarded an Edison Award (The Dutch equivalent of the Grammy).In autumn 2010 Criss Cross released the fifth album of Peter Beets, 'Chopin meets the Blues'. On this album he uses Chopin melodies as a basis for jazz improvisation. He recorded this album with Joe Cohn (guitar), Reuben Rogers
Reuben Rogers
Reuben Renwick Rogers is a American jazz bassist, composer and educator.-Biography:Born November 15, 1974, and raised in the Virgin Islands, Rogers was exposed to varieties of music that included Calypso, Reggae, Gospel and Jazz. In his formative years, Rogers received encouragement from his...
(double bass) and Greg Hutchinson (drums)
Peter has had very successful tours with his trio in several countries in Europe such as Germany, Switzerland, Finland and Poland as well as in Japan and the US. He played at the famous Birdland Club
Birdland (jazz club)
Birdland is a jazz club started in New York City on December 15, 1949. The original Birdland, which was located at 1678 Broadway, just north of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was closed in 1965 due to increased rents, but it re-opened for one night in 1979...
in New York as a “special guest” for one week.
In 2009 October 1, The Beets Brothers held a concert in Bangkok's Thai cultural center. A group of Music GCSE students from the Regent's School
The Regent's School
The Regent's school is a coeducational boarding school. It has campuses in Pattaya and Bangkok in Thailand, and also one in England.- History :...
came to watch the concert describing it to be "without a doubt, Brilliant."
Theatre programs
A duet for two grand piano’s with Chick CoreaChick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
in the big hall of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw resulted in a performance in trio setting there on the 16th of April 2005. He did a Dutch theatertour “From Bach till Blues” (2003) and returned in the theaters in 2005 with the program “Chopin meets the Blues”. From fall 2007 on he appeared in the theaters again. With this program “The Blues goes Latin” he showed the influence of Latin American and Spanish music on the jazz.
Peter is now working on two shows, a reprise of Chopin meets the Blues' and a 'Tribute to Oscar Peterson'
Discography
Beets Brothers- 1995 - Brotherwise
- 1996 - School is Closed Now
- 2000 - Powerhouse
- 2002 - Live in Holland (CD)
- 2003 - Live in Holland (DVD)
- ???? - In the New World
- ???? - In Concert
Peter Beets
- 1996 - First Date
- 2001 - New York Trio
- 2003 - New York Trio - Page Two
- 2005 - New York Trio - Page Three
- 2005 - Live at the Concertgebouw - Volume I
- 2005 - Live at the Concertgebouw - Volume II
- 2007 - New Groove
- 2009 - First Date Live
- 2010 - Blues for the Date (with Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw)
- 2010 - Chopin meets the Blues
Albums by other artists with a contribution by Peter Beets
Quotes about Peter Beets
- " Outstanding compositions", "fantastic timing", "brilliant" Jazzreview
- " Such an awesome talent should be cherished and applauded, as it isn't an everyday occurrence. Beets is a fully grown monster, and it may not be long before Jazz lovers on both sides of the ocean become aware of that." Jack Bowers, Cadence RecordsCadenceCadence may refer to:Music:*Cadence , a melodic configuration the end of a phrase, section, or piece of music*Cadence Magazine, a monthly review of jazz, blues and improvised music...
- " The best young pianist I've heard in the last ten years. Beets leaves nothing unsaid. He swings with authority, creates constantly, improvises as though he was born doing it, and all of this with a light and lithesome touch. He's so good that it would make little difference what tunes he chose. Peter Beets is going to scare the hell out of some people." George Fendel, Jazzscene
- " The title of one of Beets' originals -"Admirable"- is an appropriate metaphor for all of them. Stylistically, he's a lineal descendant of such quintessential boppers as Bud Powell, Hampton Hawes, Bobby Timmons and Wynton Kelly and is closely attuned to their modern progeny but with a lyrical outlook and rhytmic conception of his own underscored by tasteful, cogently structured lines that always swing and a technique that rivals anyone this side of vintage Oscar Peterson." Jack Bowers, Cadence
- " Strong playing", "exciting solos", "straight ahead excellence", "a world class jazz act" Austin American Statesman, Down BeatDown BeatDown Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
- " World class improviser" Ted Panken, Down BeatDown BeatDown Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
, Jazziz, WKCRWKCRWKCR-FM is a radio station. Licensed to New York, New York, USA, it serves the New York area. The station is currently owned by Trustees of Columbia University in New York.-History:...