The love for music began at an early age. In my early teens, it was Status Quo, Mud, and Lemming. Through friends in high school, I also began to discover soul music. The Average White Band marked my definitive love for funk. During my student years, jazz started taking over my record collection. Chet Baker was the trigger — his cool jazz interpretations made me melt. After 40 years of collecting and making music as a hobby, I felt it was time to add a new dimension to my life… organizing and supporting jazz events.
I have always been interested in music — as a child already, singing in a choir, and that’s when I bought my first singles. That became quite a collection, and many LPs and CDs soon followed. As for musical taste, alongside classical music, it went from quality pop, soul, and funk almost inevitably towards Afro, world, and jazz. Of course, attending concerts was also part of it — seeing Miles Davis live at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague was an unforgettable experience. During my student years, DJing — first just a passion — became something I started to take more seriously, and I still do it regularly to this day. And now a new challenge: to help shape jazz in Central Limburg.
Treasurer
Music has always been important to me. In my younger years, I bought a record player with the first money I earned, and my favorites at the time were The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Neil Young. Later, my taste broadened in many directions, including world music. Thanks to my friend Geert Driessen and his wife Marlies, who run the record store Sounds in Venlo, I’ve had the chance to discover many new things in the world of music. For many years now (in July 2022 for the 17th time), the three of us have visited the world music festival WOMAD in England, where beautiful music from all over the world is performed and many cultures come together. The North Sea Jazz Festival is also an event I always enjoy attending. I gladly take care of the financial affairs of Jazzclub 14, especially since the event’s move in 2022 to the old railway station building in Swalmen — which, along with the surrounding grounds, will hopefully become the hub of many future cultural events.