Jazz Connection

Jazz Connection

Jazz Connection is a jazz and jive orchestra from Breda, active from 1990 to the present. The group is a follower of the Jumpin’ Jive style associated with postwar American black popular music, and its repertoire includes songs made known by Louis Jordan and Louis Prima, including “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby”, “Just a Gigolo” and “Jumpin’ Jive”.

Style and performance

The band presents a Jazz & Jive show built around swing and revival-era material. Its performances are described as featuring authentic zoot suits, flamboyance, Cadillac cars, dancers and cheap whisky, alongside humour. The group’s sound is described as transparent, sophisticated, catchy and groovy, and its set can range from festive jive and boogie to blues.

History and activity

Jazz Connection forms in Breda in 1990 and tours across Europe. It performs at major festivals and clubs in the Netherlands, and it travels in Belgium, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and Poland, as well as in the Middle East and Asia. The band appears at many editions of the Breda Jazz Festival, and in 2008 it is invited to the Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland, where it performs with Andy Cooper and Frits Landesbergen.

Line-up

The sextet consists of Jurgen Feskens on trumpet, flugelhorn and vocals; Peter van Steen on trombone; Rob Henneveld on alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and clarinet; Bart Maassen on piano; Bart Wouters on double bass and vocals; and Ad Hoendervangers on drums.