Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw Based in the prestigious Concertgebouw of Amsterdam promoting jazz in a regular concerts series. 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, McCoy Tyner, Lew Tabackin, James Carter, Richard Galliano, Deborah Brown, Madeline Bell, George Duke, Benny Golson, Trijntje Oosterhuis, Lee Konitz, Roy Hargrove, Dennis Mackrel, Toots Thielemans, Ack van Rooyen, Rita Reys, Bert Joris, Joe Lovano and Dee Bridgewater. The orchestra itself was founded by Henk Meutgeert & Frans van Geest among others. History 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. Co-productions The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw initiates and participates often in extraor- dinary projects with other ensembles and art forms. For instance, when the motion picture “Ray” hit the screens, the big band toured through The Netherlands and performed in the movie theatres in a tribute to Ray Charles. The orchestra co-pro- duced an All American Program with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra with music by George Gershwin and Duke Ellington. The music was especially arranged for this extraordinary big band-symphonic orchestra combination. Further co-productions are for example the successful double big band concert with the NDR-big band (Ger- many) and Ellington’s Sacred Concerts with Jessye Norman.
