Joris Roelofs / Ted Poor / Pablo Held
Joris Roelofs - Bas Klarinette ; Ted Poor - Schlagzeug ; Pablo Held - Klavier
Joris Roelofs,
born February 21, 1984 in Aix-en-Provence (France), raised in Amsterdam (Netherlands), plays saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet and flute. He started to play classical clarinet at the age of six, and then started the alto saxophone at the age of twelve. He was a member of the Vienna Art Orchestra from 2005 – 2010. Joris also plays lead alto in the Jazz Orchestra Of The Concertgebouw in the Netherlands. He graduated in 2007 as a Master of Music at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. In 2001 Joris won the Pim Jacobs Price. In 2003 he received, as a first non-American, the Stan Getz/Clifford Brown Fellowship Award in the US, organized by the International Association Of Jazz Education (IAJE). The IAJE also honored him with a ‘First Level’ price. In 2004 Joris received the first price of the prestigious Deloitte Jazz Award in the Netherlands. In 2008 he was selected for the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition. Among others, Joris played with Brad Mehldau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Christina Branco, Lionel Loueke, Joshua Redman, Eric Harland, Lewis Nash, Aaron Goldberg,, Ralph Peterson, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, WDR Big Band, Ari Hoenig, Matt Penman. In 2010 he was asked by Brad Mehldau to perform with him at the Carnegie Hall in New York and Sanders Theatre in Boston, along with Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, Chris Cheek, Greg Tardy, Sam Sadigursky, Timothy Andres and Becca Stevens. In a Dutch TV show, at age 16, Joris performed the famous clarinet introduction of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue with the Orkest van het Oosten, and was featured as a soloist with the Jazz Orchestra Of The Concertgebouw. Also he recorded as a special clarinet soloist with the Metropole Orchestra with Laura Fygi (2004). As a leader he performed several times at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Smalls Jazz Club in NYC, among other places. In October 2008 he did a European release tour with Ari Hoenig, Aaron Goldberg and Johannes Weidenmueller to promote his debute album ‘Introducing Joris Roelofs’. In 2009 and 2010 he did his second and third tour with Aaron Goldberg, Greg Hutchinson, Reginald Veal, Joe Sanders. This year there will be another tour, in trio setting with Matt Penman and Ted Poor, which features Joris mostly on bass clarinet. Joris also plays in a trio with Jesse van Ruller and Clemens van der Feen, they released their album ‘Chamber Tones’ and toured in Japan. They currently released their second album ‘The Ninth Planet’.. Joris’ new CD ‘Live At The Bimhuis’ was released September 5, 2011.
As a sideman Joris has been playing at a large number of international jazz festivals and jazz clubs, all over the world. He moved to New York City in March 2008, and he recently moved back to Amsterdam.
Ted Poor
After graduating from the Eastman School of Music in 2003, drummer Ted Poor moved to New YorkCity, where he has made a deep impression on the jazz and improvised music scene. ModernDrummer describes his playing as “adventurous, truly dynamic, and forward-thinking.” Jazz Reviewwrites, “Ted has an uncanny ability to shape the music and a refreshingly unique, organic approach toplaying the drums.” This unique approach has caught the ears of many of jazz’s most establishedmusicians and quickly placed him amongst those drummers most in demand. Ted has toured all overthe world and is a regular member of many bands, including those of Grammy award winningtrumpeter Cuong Vu, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, guitarist Ben Monder, Bad Touch, the Respect Sextetand Jerseyband.Most recently Ted has formed a new band called Mt. Varnum. Mt. Varnum creates a world like noother. From the mysterious beauty of analog synthesizers, through the soul of lush vocals, to the grittypower of spacious, elegant drums, a narrative emerges that is run through with romping groove, vitalsong, and intoxicating tone. Ted formed Mt. Varnum in August of 2011 to reconcile a life-long love ofdeep swing with an equally earnest adoration of classic and indie rock. The band's forthcoming debutrelease “Wounded Caroline” is a powerful and complete manifestation of that union. Mt. Varnumpays tribute to its jazz roots not with complicated harmony and form but through a return to theessential feeling of the music. This distilled, grooving infection couriers Grey McMurray's ferventvocals as he delivers songs steeped in the rich traditions of American blues and classic rock. The resultis invigorating.As an in-demand sideman, Ted has appeared on dozens of recordings and has shared the stage withmany world renowned artists such as Bill Frisell, Chris Potter, Kenny Werner, Maria Schneider, AaronParks and Ralph Alessi. As a guest soloist and educator, Poor has held residencies at, among others, theEastman School of Music, Berklee College of Music, Cal Arts, Lawrence University, the University ofWashington, and the HR Big Band of Frankfurt.
Pablo Held (*27.12.1986) grew up in a family of musicians in Hagen, Germany. From an early age on he was introduced to music from different backgrounds. At the age of four he took drumming lessons and with ten he moved on to the piano. At eighteen he began his studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne under John Taylor and Hubert Nuss.
Pablo gained most attention with his trio but he is also a sought after sideman in various projects in the European jazz scene. He already collaborated with Dave Liebman, Jasper Blom, Till Brönner, Jochen Rückert, Uli Beckerhoff, Ignaz Dinné, Eric Vloeimans, Nicolas Thys, Matthias Nadolny, Claudio Puntin, Claus Stötter, Manfred Schoof, Julian Argüelles, WDR BigBand, Paul Heller, Henning Sieverts, Dre Pallemaerts and Nils Wogram.
Pablo is the recipient of the Westfalen-Jazzpreis 2009 and the WDR Jazzprice 2011.
Pablo went on concert tours to the USA, England, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark, Russia, the Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia, Holland, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Luxemburg and Serbia.
He has published three CDs with the german label Pirouet Records and his trio with Robert Landfermann (bass) and Jonas Burgwinkel (drums) performed at international festivals such as the London Jazz Festival, the Berlin Jazzfest and the North Sea Jazz Festival.